The American Genealogist
Whole Number 75 Volume XIX, No. 3
January, 1943
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO AUSTIN’S
GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF
RHODE ISLAND
By G. ANDREWS Moriarty, A.M., LL.B., F.S.A.
The following additions and corrections to Austin are by no
means exhaustive, but are certain matters which the compiler
has come across in the course of his searches into Rhode Island
family history. Some of these are already in print, others are
here presented for the first time. In connection with New
Shoreham families it should be noted that some of the earlier
dates given by both Austin and Arnold are at fault, owing to
the peculiar way in which the first town clerk made his 7, easily
misread as a 9; the result is that a number of persons born
between 1670 and 1680 are listed as being born between 1690
and 1700.
ACRES (p. 1, Ist col.). Deed dated 16 Oct. 1674, of John
Acres of New Shoreham of land in that town to ‘‘my loving
brother, John Rathbone now of Hammersmith on Rhode Island’’
(New Shoreham Deeds). Hammersmith was the Brenton estate
in the Southwesterly part of Newport.
AUDLEY (p. 5, Ist col.). John of Newport. Undoubtedly
identical with John, born at Boston 3:12 mo.: 1641, the son of
John Odlin or Audley, the Boston armourer and his wife
Margaret (cf. Pope’s Pioneers p. 334).
BAILEY (p. 9, 2nd col.). Edward of Newport and Tiverton.
On 16 May 1717, Edward and John Bailey of Tiverton dis-
charged Joel Lake and Sarah his wife of their obligation to
support ‘‘Frances, wife of Edward Bailey of Tiverton late
deceased,’’ and the same day Joel Lake and wife Sarah of
Tiverton sold 17 acres, ‘‘which did formerly belong to our father
Edward Bailey at his decease’’ (Bristol Co. Deeds, Bk. X, pp.
644, 646).
130 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
BALL. Edward (p. 11, Ist col.). He is perhaps the Edward
Ball who was a fisherman on the Maine coast 1660-1667 (cf.
Libby’s Gen. Dic. Maine and N. H., Pt. 2, p. 73).
Mary (2nd col.) married Edward Hall (Henry') of Westerly,
R. I. Elizabeth married John Hall (Henry') of Westerly (ef.
N. E. Hist. & Gen. Reg., Vol. 87, pp. 354, 356; Austin, p. 90).
BORDEN. Richard (p. 23, 1st col.) was of Headeorn and
Cranbrook, co. Kent, son of Matthew and Joan ( ) Borden,
bapt. at Headcorn 22 Feb. 1595/6, married at Headcorn 28 Sept.
1625 Joan dau. of Richard Fowle of Frittenden and Headcorn.
Richard (2nd col.), bapt. Headeorn 9 July 1626; died young;
Thomas, bapt. Headcorn 3 Oct. 1627; Francis, bapt. Cranbrook
23 Dec. 1628; Mary, bapt. Cranbrook 13 Jan. 1632/3; Elizabeth,
bapt. Cranbrook 25 May 1634, died young. (The remaining
children born in Rhode Island.) (N. E. Hist. & Gen. Reg.,
Vol. 84, pp. 226-229.)
BUTTS. Thomas (p. 34, 1st col.) married Elizabeth daughter
of Henry Lake of Dorchester, Mass., and Portsmouth, R. I.
Zaccheus (2nd col.) married about 1693 Sarah, daughter of
Thomas and Sarah (Earle) Cornell. Zaccheus died before 21
Aug. 1712 and his widow married 2ndly, 25 Aug. 1712, John
Cole of Swansea. She died 16 Jan. 1748/9.
Moses (2nd col.) married about 1695 Alice, daughter of
Thomas Lake of Dartmouth, who was born 6 Dec. 1677 (Am.
Gen. July 1935, pp. 19, 24, 20).
CARR. Mercy (p. 37, 2nd col.) married Capt. Thomas Paine
of Jamestown. Capt. Thomas Paine, a quasi privateer, arrived
in Newport in 1689 with a forged commission from the Lieut.
Gov. of Jamaica. Prior to this he had been engaged in piratical
activities on the Florida coast (‘‘Pirates’ Who’s Who’’). He
was commissioned 1689 by the Gov. of Rhode Island to go out
against the French, who under a privateer captain named
‘“Peckar’’ had captured New Shoreham (Block Island). He
defeated the French whose captain was an old friend of Paine
and had sailed with him on some common enterprises on the
Spanish Main (Niles’ ‘‘ Hist. of the Ind. Wars’’). Esquemelling
mentions a Capt. Picquart, who was with Lolonois at the sack
of Maracaibo. It is suggested that Capt. Picquart equals Capt.
Peckar and that Paine was with Lolonois at Maracaibo. After
his victory off Block Island, Paine settled at Jamestown. He
was one of the founders of Trinity Church at Newport. Just
before he was apprehended, Capt. Kidd visited his old friend,
Capt. Paine, at Jamestown and left certain monies with Mrs.
Paine (Cal. of State Papers Am. & West Indies). Paine died
s.p.in 1714. His will, dated 8 June 1714, left his property suc-
GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF RHODE ISLAND 131
eessively to John, Thomas and Samuel, sons of his brother,
Andrew Paine. John came to Jamestown where he is described
as a ‘‘marriner’’ in 1717. He married and left issue (James-
town Probate and Deeds).
Caleb (2nd col.). His wife, Deborah, was undoubtedly the
daughter of John and Mary (Williams) Sayles of Providence or
else of Richard Sayles of that town, probably a brother of John
(Am. Gen., April 1939).
CLARKE (p. 43, 1st col.). Carew (Thomas*®, John’, John’,
? John) came from Westhorpe, co. Suffolk, and was baptized
there on 17 Feb. 1602/3, the son of Thomas and Rose (Kerrich)
Clarke of Westhorpe. He derived his given name from the
family of his grandmother, Katherine Cooke alias Carew (N. E.
Hist. & Gen. Reg., Vol. 75, pp. 278-279).
Jeremiah (William, James, George, John, &c) (p. 44, 1st col.)
was a citizen and merchant from London. Bapt. at East Far-
leigh, co. Kent, on 1 Dec. 1605, the son of William, gent., of East
Farleigh and St. Botolph Aldgate, London, by his wife Mary,
daughter of Sir Jerome Weston, Baron of the Exchequer and
sister of Richard Weston, Ist Earl of Portland, Lord High
Treasurer of England (Clarke Genealogy by Justice).
Dr. John (p. 45, 1st col.), brother of Carew, bapt. at Wes-
thorpe 8 Oct. 1609. Married 1st, Elizabeth, daughter of John
Harris, lord of the manor of Westlingworth, co. Beds. (cf.
V. C. H. Beds. ‘‘Wrestlingworth’’). The will of Dr. John names
his cousin Fiske (not Fish) and her children. Margaret Clarke,
sister of Dr. John, married, as his Ist wife, Nicholas Wyeth of
Cambridge, Mass., and had Sarah, who married on 11 Dec. 1651
John Fiske of Watertown and had issue (cf. Bond’s Watertown
and N. E. Hist. & Gen. Reg., Vol. 75, p. 279).
Joseph (p. 47, 1st col.), brother of Dr. John, bapt. at Wes-
thorpe 16 Dec. 1618.
Thomas (p. 47, lst col.), brother of Carew, Dr. John and
Joseph, bapt. at Westhorpe 31 March 1605.
COGGESHALL. John (p. 49, Ist col.), gent., bapt. at Hal-
stead, co. Essex, 9 Dec. 1601, son of John, gent., of Halstead,
and Anne, his wife, daughter of Pierce Butter, clothier of Ded-
ham and Colchester, co. Essex. His gravestone at Newport,
R. I., erected many years after his death, overstates his age by
ten years. He was a merchant at Sibel Headingham prior to
his emigration. Taxed at Sibel Headingham 17 Dec. 1628. On
1 June 1629 he, together with his wife Mary and John Warman
and wife Sarah, sold land by fine in Halstead and Sibel Head-
ingham, probably the inheritance of the wives. There is a brass
in Halstead Church to his aunt, Elizabeth Coggeshall, wife of
132 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
the Rev. John Watson, vicar of Halstead. His grandfather,
John Coggeshall, gent., had been a merchant at London and was
a clothier at Halstead, where he owned and lived in ‘‘Mon-
chensies House’’ (later called ‘‘Blue Bridge House’’), a capital
messuage on the Halstead-Colchester Road. His arms appear
in the architrave of an alms house in Halstead built by him in
1563, viz. ‘‘Silver a cross between 4 escollops sable.’’ The
ancestry of this first John for a number of generations will be
made public by this compiler at a later date.
John (2nd col.), born about 1620. Married 3rdly, Mary,
widow of Samuel Sturgis of Yarmouth, Mass., and daughter of
Capt. William Hedge, Sr. She was born at Yarmouth in 1648.
Anne, bapt. Castle Headingham 7 May 1626. Add Mary,
bapt. 22 June 1628, and James bapt. there 14 March 1629/30.
Died young. Both were alive 16 April 1645. (N. E. Hist. &
Gen. Reg., Vol. 73, pp. 19-32.)
CORNELL (pp. 54-55, 1st col.). Will of Rebecea, widow of
Thomas, dated 2 Sept. 1664, proved 1673. Gave her Portsmouth
lands to son Thomas and his eldest son Thomas and his wife
Elizabeth. To son Richard, land at Acushnet and Accoxet in
Dartmouth (now New Bedford and Westport, Mass.). Bequest
to son William. To sons John, Samuel and Joshua, lands at
Accoxet. To daughter Sarah, lands in the Bronx (New York).
To daughter Anne and her husband Thomas (i.e. Thomas Kent),
ten acres in Portsmouth. To daughter Rebecca, land in the
Bronx. Bequests to daughters Elizabeth and Mary. The will
disposes of a considerable amount of plate. (Original will
among unrecorded papers at the Portsmouth Town House.)
Thomas (2nd ecol.). His wife was probably daughter of
Edward Fiscock of New Amsterdam, formerly of Plymouth,
England.
Samuel. Will of Samuel of Dartmouth, 15 May 1699, proved
7 Feb. 1714/5. Dartmouth lands to sons Thomas and Samuel.
To daughter Comfort, 40/ at 18 years of age. Overseers, execu-
tors and guardians of his children ‘‘cousin Thomas Cornell of
Portsmouth’’ (Thomas?, Thomas?) ‘‘and cousin George Cadman
of Dartmouth’’ (Bristol County Probate). Agreement 17 May
1688 between Samuel Cornell and his ‘‘cousin’’ (nephew)
Thomas Cornell of Rhode Island for the division of the estate
of his mother Rebecca (Bristol County Deeds). Thomas son of
Samuel Cornell born 22 Sept. 1685; Samuel son of Samuel
Cornell born 11 Jan. 1687/8; Comfort daughter of Samuel
Cornell born 4 Dee. 1691 (Dartmouth Vital Records). On 13
Feb. 1716/7, Samuel Cornell and wife Deborah mortgaged the
land of their father Samuel of Dartmouth (Bristol County
Deeds).
Add William and Mary (2nd ecol.).
.
.
.
GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF RHODE ISLAND 183
CRANSTON. Gov. John (p. 60, Ist col.). Son of the Rev.
James Cranstoun, M.A., parson of St. Mary Over’s Church,
Southwark, London, near the Bridge. He was chaplain of
Charles I. He placed his son (Gov. John) with Capt. Jeremiah
Clarke, citizen and merchant of London, who brought him to
Rhode Island. The Governor’s two brothers Samuel and Caleb
were of the King’s Life Guards at Edinburgh (Letter of Gov.
- Samuel to his cousin Elizabeth Cranstoun of Edinburgh, dated
26 Dee. 1724). Rev. James was son of John Cranstoun of Bold
by Christian, his wife, daughter of Sir Robert Stewart. This
John was undoubtedly the son of James Cranstoun, the portioner
of Bold, the son of Sir William Cranstoun of that Ik, who died
in May 1569.
Gov. Samuel (2nd col.) obtained a confirmation of the Crans-
toun arms, ‘‘Gules 3 cranes silver within a bordure embattled
silver,’’ in 1724 from the Lord Lyon King at Arms (cf. N. E.
Hist. & Gen. Reg., Vol. 79, pp. 57-66). This confirmation is
now in the Rhode Island Historical Society.
DICKENS. Nathaniel (p. 66, 1st col.) was undoubtedly iden-
tical with Nathaniel, son of Thomas and Joan Dickens, bapt. at
Chesham, co. Bucks., on 1 Feb. 1614/5. He was a land owner at
Providence on 21 Sept. 1646 (The Home Lots of Providence,
p. 48). He witnessed a deed of John Greene, the surgeon, on
16 July 1647. On 27 June 1648 he had a share of meadow and
60 acres of land at Providence. On 24:6: 1648 he, together with
‘Goody Dickens’’ his wife, testified (Providence Town Ree., Vol.
15, p. 16). On 10:3 mo.: 1649 he was present at a Court of
Trials and on 2 June 1649 was on a Providence jury. On 20
June 1650 he was summoned to Boston by Edward Rawson, the
Secretary, in a letter addressed to ‘‘his loving friend, Nathaniel
Dickens,’’ to answer the complaints of William Arnold and
William Carpenter (7ib., Vol. 15, p. 32). In 1651 he was occupy-
ing the house of Alexander Partridge in Newport and was
ejected under a writ issued by the Coddington Government. A
riot ensued by Coddington’s opponents and Partridge’s son
killed a man, for which he was tried, convicted and executed by
a Court convened by the opposition. On 28:1: 1655 ‘‘ Nathaniel
Dickens of Newport’’ bought a lot in that town of Marmaduke
Ward (R. I. Colony Deeds) and the same day he bought land
there from James Richardson (ib.). He was town treasurer of
Newport on 13:1: 1659/60. He was one of the purchasers of
Misquamicut (Westerly, R. I.) on 15 Sept. 1661. On 7 May
1679 he exchanged his house and lot in Newport for a large tract
in the southwesterly part of New Shoreham (Block Island) with
John Williams of that town. On 3 Sept. 1680, he, together with
his wife, Sarah, of New Shoreham, sold 60 acres in that town to
134 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Richard Cozzens (New Shoreham Records). On 3 Oct. 1692,
Sarah, widow of Nathaniel Dickens, bought 8 acres in Newport
of Thomas Partridge of Flushing, Long Island (R. I. Colony
Deeds). He probably had three wives: 1st, Joan Tyler, who
was a widow at Providence as early as 1640; 2ndly, ;
3rdly, Sarah , who remarried Thomas Brown. Sarah was
undoubtedly the mother of his sons John and Roger.
Thomas (2nd col.). On 27 Dec. 1692, his step-mother, Sarah,
deeded to him 80 acres on the west side of New Shoreham, and
that same year he was on a jury. On 9 April 1706, he was
Constable at New Shoreham and a Freeman there in 1708. On
18 Feb. 1711/2 he sold land in the west part of the town inherited
from his father. On 22 March 1711/2, he sold land in Westerly
inherited from his father to Capt. John Babcock (Westerly
Deeds, Bk. II, p. 102). His wife Sarah was undoubtedly iden-
tical with Sarah, daughter of William and Sarah (George)
Dodge of New Shoreham, born 24 Jan. 1674/5.
John (2nd col.). Married prior to 17 Aug. 1705, when his
wife Joanna Dickens witnessed the Quaker marriage of John
Rodman (New Shoreham Records). She signed a deed with
him on 1 Dee. 1728 (ib.). Joanna was baptized as ‘‘ Hannah
Dickens, an aged woman,’’ together with Anstiss Dickens her
granddaughter on 7 April 1742 in the Stonington (Conn.)
Church. John was a Freeman at New Shoreham on 11 April
1699, and in 1705 and 1708 (New Shoreham Town Records).
In March 1729/30, ‘‘John Dickens of New Shoreham yeoman’’
sued Thomas Staples of Newport in the Newport Court (Superior
Court Files, Newport County, Bk. B, p. 369). On 11 April
1732 he was town sergeant at New Shoreham and in April 1734
and 1735 a member of the Town Council (New Shoreham Town
Records). His son, John Esq., was of New Shoreham, Stoning-
ton, South Kingstown and Newport (N. E. Hist. & Gen. Reg.,
Vol. 86, pp. 174-182).
(2nd col.) Add Mercy. In 1690 Nathaniel Dickens deeded
land at New Shoreham to his daughter Mercy and her husband
Gregory Mark of Oyster Bay, Long Island (New Shoreham
Deeds). They were living at New Shoreham on 3 Sept. 1696
(New Shoreham Records, Bk. I, p. 230).
DODGE. Tristram (p. 66, Ist col.). On 26 Sept. 1647 he
witnessed a deed at Ferryland, Newfoundland and on 24:3: 1648
Valentine Hill gave a power of attorney to Joseph Grafton to
recover from Tristram Dodge et als. in Newfoundland (Aspin-
wall, pp. 126, 127-8). His house appears upon the oldest map
of Block Island. He was a foreman of a jury at New Shoreham
on 23 Feb. 1681/2 (New Shoreham Records, Bk. I, p. 542). On
6 Dee. 1683, John Williams of Newport agreed with John, Tris-
GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF RHODE ISLAND 135
tram, William and Israel Dodge as to the land bought of ‘‘their
late father, Tristram Dodge deceased’’ to deliver it to them after
the decease of their mother Anne Dodge (New Shoreham
Records, Bk. I). She was probably alive on 27 Feb. 1685/6
(ib., p. 450).
John (2nd col.). His wife Mary was probably a daughter of
Alexander Enos (Innis), one of the Scotch prisoners, who settled
on Block Island.
William (2nd col.) was deeded land on 10 Jan. 1680/1 (New
Shoreham Deeds). On a Coroner’s jury 8 June 1702. Deposed
6 Jan. 1706/7 aged 57 years (New Shoreham Records, Bk. I,
p. 386). Freeman at New Shoreham 1678. William was alive
on 16 Dee. 1731, when his son William made his will. He mar-
ried on 24 April 1674 Sarah George and had: Sarah, born 24
Jan. 1674/5; William, born 8 March 1679/80; Samuel, born
9 Sept. 1681; Elizabeth, born 1 May 1683.
EARLE. Ralph (p. 69, 1st col.). Son of Ralph and Margaret
(Brown) Earle of Bishop’s Stortford, co. Herts, bapt. there on
9 Feb. 1606/7. Married there on 29 June 1631 Joan Savage,
probably daughter of Richard Savage of Widford, co. Herts,
whose daughter Joan was baptized on 18 Feb. 1609/10. In 1699
Samuel Sewell records in his diary that at Portsmouth he saw
the aged Joan Earle, ‘‘Savage that was,’’ aged, by repute, 105
years. Her age was evidently overestimated. Ralph was of
Newport in 1638. In 1646 ‘‘Ralph Earle of Portsmouth,
formerly of Newport,’’ sold land in the latter town (R. I. Colony
Deeds). In August 1653 he testified in the case of Capt. Kempo
Sybada vs. Edward Hull concerning the latter’s depredations
upon the plaintiff’s property, while in command of the bark
‘‘Swallow,’’ commissioned as a privateer by Rhode Island in
the Dutch War (Essex County, Mass., Quarterly Court Files).
In 1667 he had a suit in Connecticut claiming to have bought
‘“‘The Dutch House of Good Hope’’ at Hartford from Capt.
John Underhill in 1653.
be continued]
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW OF THE REVEREND PETER
PRUDDEN WITH A PEDIGREE OF THE
BOYSE FAMILY
By Joun INSLEY CoppineTon, A.M., of Olivet, Michigan
All descendants of the Reverend Peter Prudden, Pastor and
Founder of Milford, Connecticut, and all persons interested in
the history of the New Haven Colony and the development of
136 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Connecticut, are full of gratitude to Mr. 8S. Allyn Peck for his
most valuable and illuminating articles on Mr. Prudden and his
English ancestry, which appeared in THE AMERICAN GENEALO-
aist, vol. 16, pp. 1-28, 122-3 and 177-9, and vol. 17, pp. 52-5. In
the first of these articles (vol. 16, pp. 8-12), Mr. Peck also dis-
cussed the family of Joanna Boyse, the second wife of the
Reverend Peter Prudden, and the mother of all his known chil-
dren. Earlier discussions of this lady and her family, as well
as accounts of her subsequent marriages to Captain Thomas
Willett and to the Reverend John Bishop are to be found in
Lilian E. Prudden, Peter Prudden (New Haven, Conn., 1901),
pp. 16-8, 34-5, 54-61 and 107-13; in Donald Lines Jacobus, Fami-
lies of Old Fairfield (New Haven, Conn., 1930-2), vol. 1, p. 494;
and in George Clarke Bryant, ‘‘The Prudden-Burr Connection,’’
New England Historical & Genealogical Register, vol. 84 (1930),
pp. 63-4,
Joanna Boyse or Boys was a daughter (apparently the fifth
and youngest daughter) of the Reverend John Boyse or Boys,
sometime lecturer in the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist
at Halifax, co. York, by his wife Joan. It is the purpose of this
article to show the identity of Joan, wife of the Reverend John
Boyse or Boys, and mother of Joanna Boyse, who married (1)
the Reverend Peter Prudden, (2) Captain Thomas Willett, and
(3) the Reverend John Bishop.
The Reverend John Boyse or Boys was a Yorkshireman. He
owned property (which he mentioned in his will) in the parish
of Great Edston, co. York; and his brother, William Boyse, lived
in that parish, so it is altogether likely that the Reverend John
Boyse’s ancestors came from Great Edston or its neighborhood.
It is also probable that he was identical with the John Boyse who
matriculated as sizar from St. John’s College, Cambridge, in the
Michaelmas Term, 1585, and received his B.A. in 1589-90 and
his M.A. in 1593; though this identification is not certain.’
After his ordination, the Reverend John Boyse must have
settled in Kent, and he must have been the incumbent of a parish
in that county for a number of years. It has not yet been pos-
sible to discover which of the parishes of Kent he served as
pastor. At some time in his career, he became a Nonconformist,
and was eventually banished out of Kent for his nonconformity,
whereupon he and his family returned to his native county of
York. The Reverend John Favour, LL.D., who was Vicar of
Halifax, co. York, from 1593 till his death in 1623, was a famous
Puritan, and he invited Boyse to come to Halifax, and serve as
lecturer in the church there. Boyse accepted this invitation,
and spent the last years of his life at Halifax. He is described
1 ot Cantabrigienses, ed. by J. and J. A. Venn, part I, vol. 1 (Cambridge, 1922),
Pp
MOTHER-IN-LAW OF THE REVEREND PETER PRUDDEN 137
as ‘‘a choice man, very laborious in the work of the Lord, [who]
catechised all the poor, expounded to them in the church one day
in the week, and gave them money.’ The Reverend John Boyse
died at Halifax 30 April 1620, and his epitaph was formerly to
be seen in the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist there. It
read: ‘‘John Boyes: Abiit non obiit, Anno Dom: 1620, Aprill
30th.’’ This inscription was erected by Boyse’s friend Edmund
Brearcliffe.*
It is important to note that Heywood’s diary explicitly states
that the Reverend John Boyse was banished out of Kent for his
nonconformity.* There was a family named Boys in Kent,® and
this is confusing; but it is certain that our man did not belong
to the Kentish family, in spite of his long residence in the
southern county.
The Reverend John Boyse made his will at Halifax, 13 July
1619, and it was proved at York 8 February 1620/1 by Joan
Boyse, the relict and executrix named. The will is given in full
in L. E. Prudden, Peter Prudden, pp. 107-10. One item in the
will (according to this book, p. 110) reads:
**TItem, I give to John Stucoe of Biddingden my wives brother £X if
and when he shall come to Halifax to the comforting of my said wife.’’
According to W. J. Walker, Halifax Parish Church, p. 103,
this same paragraph in John Boyse’s will reads:
‘*TItem, I give to John Stawe of Biddingden, my wives brother, 40s. if
and when he shall come to Hallifax to the comforting of my said wife.’’
The present writer carefully examined the original will of the
Reverend John Boyse at York in the summer of 1936, and is
convinced that the correct reading of the above paragraph is:
**Ttem, I give to John Stowe of Biddingden, my wives brother, 40s. if
and when he shall come to Hallifax to the comforting of my said wife.’’
When one remembers that the Reverend John Boyse spent
many years in Kent, it becomes obvious that ‘‘Biddingden’’ is
Biddenden, co. Kent. John Stowe of Biddenden, Mrs. Boyse’s
brother, was baptized at Biddenden 14 January 1581/2, and died
at Roxbury, Mass., 26 October 1643. He married at Biddenden
13 September 1608 Elizabeth Bigge, who was baptized at Cran-
brook, co. Kent, 1 November 1590, and was buried at Roxbury,
2 Diary of the Rev. Oliver Heywood, quoted in the Papers of the Halifax Antiqua-
rian Society for 1907, p. 215b.
8 William James Walker, Chapters on the Early Registers of Halifax Parish Church
(Halifax, 1885), pp. 102-4.
* The Life and Diaries of Oliver Semmes, ‘«" by J. Horsfall Taylor, 4 vols. (Brig-
house, 1881-5), vol. 4, p. 16. See also vol. 1, p. 57.
5 For the Boys family of Kent, see Edward ” Hasted, History i. Kent (12 vols.,
Canterbury, 1797-1801), vol. 3, pp. 70, 565; vol. 4, pp. 184, 223; William Berry Kent
Genealogies (London, 1830), pp. 16, 438-47, 453; and Publications of ) Harleian Society,
vol, 42 (Visitation of Kent, 1619), pp. 38, 92,
138 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Mass., 21 August 1638. The Stowes migrated from Biddenden
to New England in 1638, and settled at Roxbury. They were
the parents of nine children, from whom many New England
families descend. John Stowe’s sister Joan was baptized at
Biddenden 7 August 1575. She was the eldest daughter of John
Stowe of Biddenden, innkeeper, by his wife Joan (Baker). The
will? of Joan (Baker) Stowe was dated 30 April 1616, and in it
the testatrix bequeathed 10s. to her daughter Joane, and 10s.
more to the latter’s daughter Mary, unfortunately without giv-
ing their family names. Joan (Stowe) Boyse, widow of the
Reverend John Boyse, died at Halifax, and was buried there
9 July 1630. Her will, dated 21 June 1630, and proved at York
28 April 1631, is given in full in L. E. Prudden, Peter Prudden.
pp. 111-3.
PEDIGREE OF THE BOYSE FAMILY
The Reverend JoHNn BoyseE or Boys was probably born at or
near Great Edston, co. York, about 1569. He probably matricu-
lated as sizar from St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1585; pro-
ceeded B.A. in 1589/90, and M.A. in 1593. He served as incum-
bent of some parish in Kent for many years, became a Noncon-
formist, and was banished from Kent for nonconformity. He
became a lecturer at the Parish Church at Halifax, co. York,
and died there 30 April 1620. He married, probably in Kent,
at an unknown date, Joan Srows, daughter of John and Joan
(Baker) Stowe, of Biddenden, co. Kent. She was baptized at
Biddenden 7 August 1575, and died at Halifax, where she was
buried 9 July 1630. She was a sister of John Stowe of Bid-
denden, who settled at Roxbury, Mass., and she was connected
by marriage with Hopestill Foster, Dr. Comfort and Dr. Thomas
Starr, Thomas Betts, and other New England settlers who came
from Kent.
Children, probably born in Kent, exact order unknown:
i. Mary, named in the will of her grandmother, Joan (Baker)
Stowe, and perhaps therefore the eldest, d. unmarried at Halifax,
and was bur. there 7 Jan. 1627 /8.
ii. SAMUEL, named as eldest son in his father’s will in 1620; d.
unmarried before his mother made her will in 1630; his burial
is not to be found in the Halifax Parish Register.
iii. m. at Halifax 27 May 1629 Roserr SIMONDS or
Symonps of Sowerby in the parish of Halifax, co. York.
iv. Sience, m. at Halifax 8 December 1630 THomas RosINson.
They migrated to New England in 1636, and settled at Roxbury,
®For the Stowe family, see Elizabeth French (now Mrs. J. Gardner Bartlett), “The
Stowe Family,” New England Historical & Genealogical Register, vol. 70 (1916), pp.
347-9; and John Insley Coddington, “The Stowe Family,” Jbid., vol. 93 (1939), pp.
296-8. For the Bigge family, see John Insley Coddington, ‘“‘The Bigge Family,” Jhi//.,
vol, 92 (1938), pp. 395-8.
7 Abstract of the will in N. E. H. & G. Register, vol. 93, p. 297.
MOTHER-IN-LAW OF THE REVEREND PETER PRUDDEN 139
Mass. They removed to Scituate, Mass., in 1642, and Silence d.
(probably at Scituate) before 10 Jan. 1653/4, when Thomas
Robinson remarried. He d. at Boston, Mass., about 1665.
Thomas and Silence (Boyse) Robinson had three sons baptized
at Halifax, and may have had more children born in New
England.
v. ANNA, m. at Bradford, co. York, 12 Aug. 1633, the Rev. Jonn
ReyNor (also spelled RAYNER, RayNoR and REYNER). He was
b. at Gildersome in the parish of Batley, co. York, about 1605,
and was educated at Magdalen College, Cambridge (B.A. 1625).
s The Rev. John and Anna (Boyse) Reynor migrated to New
England about 1635-6, and settled at Plymouth. Mr. Reynor
was the teacher at Plymouth, 1636-1655. He became a freeman
in 1637-8. He was called by the Church at Dover, N. H., to
become its pastor in 1655, and retained this position until his
death, at Dover, 21 April 1669. Anna (Boyse) Reynor d. at
Plymouth before 1642, when Mr. Reynor remarried. The Rev.
John and Anna (Boyse) Reynor had two surviving children,
Jachin Reynor (later of Rowley, Mass.), and Anna or Hannah
Reynor, who m. in Sept. 1660 Job Lane of Malden, Mass.
vi. JOANNA, came to New England in 1636 with her brother-in-law
and sister, Thomas and Silence (Boyse) Robinson, and settled
at Roxbury, Mass., where, as ‘‘Joan Boyse, a maid,’’ she was
a member of the Rev. John Eliot’s congregation in the latter
part of 1636. She m. (1) about 1637-8 (as his second wife),
the Rev. Perer Pruppen. He was b. in Dee. 1601, probably at
or near Kings Walden, co. Hertford, or Luton, co. Bedford; was
educated at the Merchant Tailors’ School, London, 1616-7, and
at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1620. He labored and
preached in South Wales and Hertfordshire, and came to New
England in 1637, for he was at Boston on 26 June 1637. He
was at New Haven and Wethersfield, Conn., in 1638; and he
( founded Milford, Conn., in 1640, and was Pastor of the Church
at Milford from 1640 till his death in July 1656. The Rev.
Peter and Joanna (Boyse) Prudden had nine children, born at
Milford.8 She m. (2) at Milford, 20 Sept. 1671 (as his second
wife), Captain TnHomas WILLETT. The parentage and place and
date of birth of this famous man are not yet surely known.9
He spent a considerable part of his youth at Leyden, and knew
the Dutch language well. He is said to have come to New
England on one of the later voyages of the Mayflower,’ arriv-
ing at Plymouth 15 May 1629, with several other former resi-
dents of Leyden. He was soon sent to the Plymouth Colony’s
outpost, the Penobscot trading house, on the coast of the present
State of Maine; and he was left in charge of that post in 1630,
and remained in charge of it till he was ejected by the French
in 1635. Meanwhile, he was made a freeman of Plymouth in
absentia, 1 July 1633. He was at Plymouth, 1635-1639, and he
m. (1) there, 6 July 1636, Mary Brown. He was master of the
8 For further details concerning the Rev. Peter Prudden and his descendants, see the
works mentioned in the first paragraph of this article.
®It is asserted (without proof) by Daniel H. Carpenter, ‘““The Willet Record,” New
York Genealogical & Biographical Record, vol. 33 (1902), p. 106, that Capt. Thomas
{ Willett was bapt. at Barley, co. Hertford, 29 Aug. 1605, son of the Rev. Andrew and
Jacobina (Goad) Willett. On the other hand, George Canning Burgess stated his
belief, in ‘‘Thomas Willett of Leyden and Plymouth, First Mayor of New York,”
N. E. H. & G. Register, vol. 61 (1907), pp. 157-64, that Capt. Thomas Willett was b.
at Leyden, and was a son of Thomas and Alice Willett, members of the Pilgrim col-
ony in that town.
1° Charles E. Banks, M.D., The Planters of the Commonwealth (Boston, 1930), p. 65.
140 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Plymouth trading house at Kennebec, 1639-1640.1: He then
returned to Plymouth to live, but engaged in trading activities
all over New England and New Netherlands. He had 6 acres
of land in the North Precinct of Plymouth (now Kingston,
Mass.) in 1643. He was chosen Captain of the Plymouth mili-
tary forces, in succession to Myles Standish, 7 March 1647/8.
He was a member of a commission to settle the boundary
between the English and Dutch colonies in Sept. 1650, and was
appointed by Gov. Peter Stuyvesant to represent the Dutch
interests on that commission. He was an Assistant in Piymouth
Colony, 1651-1665, though he left Plymouth itself, and -emoved
to Rehoboth in 1651 or 1652. Willett is said to have been so
friendly to the Dutch that he warned them of the impending
attack by the English in 1664. Because of his knowledge of the
Dutch language and his friendship for the Dutch people, Willett
was appointed the first (English) Mayor of New York, 12 June
1665, and held office till the summer of 1666; and again from
the summer of 1667 to the summer of 1668. After that, he left
New York, and settled at Swansea, Mass. He d. in that part of
Swansea which is now Seakonk, 4 Aug. 1674, and was bur. at
the head of Bullock’s Cove, in what is now East Providence,
R. I. By his second wife, Joanna (Boyes) (Prudden) Willett,
he had no children. She m,. (3), at a date which has not been
ascertained, the Rev. JoHN BisHop of Stamford, Conn., as his
second wife. The Reverend John Bishop is said** to be identical
with the John Bishop who was born about 1612, son of William
Bishop of Holway, co. Dorset, commoner, and who matriculated
at Balliol College, Oxford, 20 April 1632, aged 20, and graduated
B.A. 7 June 1632, and proceeded M.A. 15 April 1635, and was
Rector of Batcombe, co. Dorset, 1636-1640.1* The Reverend John
Bishop arrived in New England in 1640, and settled at Taunton.
He is said to have gone on foot from Taunton to Stamford in
1644, and he served as minister of Stamford for 50 years, from
1644 to his death in the winter of 1694-5. He m. (1), probably
soon after his removal to Stamford, Rebecca Goodyear, who was
b. about 1626, daughter of Stephen and Mary Goodyear of
London, England, and New Haven, Conn. She was the mother
of all his children. The Reverend Jolin Bishop survived both his
wives. In his will, dated 16 Nov. 1694, he expressed the desire
to be buried between his two wives, Rebecca and Joanna, ‘‘who
are fallen asleep in Jesus and gone to heaven before me.’’ He
d. between 16 Nov. 1694 and 12 March 1694/5, the date of
probate of the will.**
vii. JOHN, bapt. at Halifax 14 April 1618, was the younger son when
his father made his will in 1620, and the only surviving son
when his mother made her will in 1630. His mother made care-
ful provision for his education. He was killed in April 1643
11 For Capt. Thomas Willett’s career in Maine, see Sybil Noyes, Charles Thornton
Libby and Walter Goodwin ce Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hamp-
shire (Portland, Me., 1928-39), p. 754
12 Rev. Frederick Lewis Weis. The rene Clergy of the Colonial Churches of New
England (Lancaster, Mass., 1936),
Ozonienses, 1500- ed. by Joseph Foster, 4 vols. (Oxford, 1891-2).
1, p. 1
14 The account of the Rev. John Bishop in Nathaniel Holmes Bishop, “The Rev.
John Bishop,” N. Y. G. & B. Record, vol. 28 (1897), pp. 129-131, is vague and not
entirely satisfactory. A much ae account is in Jacobus, Old Fairfield, vol. 1. p. 77.
For the identity of Rebecca Goodvear, see D. L. Jacobus, ‘Deputy Governor Stephen
Goodyear of New Haven. Rev. John Bishop of Stamford. and the Lake and Watts
Families of Boston,’’ THe American Genealogist, vol. 16, pp. 193-200, especially p. 196.
MACWITHEY FAMILY OF PRESTON, CONNECTICUT 141
in a skirmish between the Parliamentary and royal forces,
within 2 miles of Leeds, co. York. He was not married, and his
surviving sisters, and the children of his deceased sister Anna
(Boyse) Reynor, became coheirs to the Boyse estates in
Yorkshire.
THE MACWITHEY FAMILY OF PRESTON,
CONNECTICUT
By Apa R. Cuasr, of Norwich, Connecticut
Savage, in his Genealogical Dictionary, Vol. 4, page 618, states
‘Withee: Robert ae. 20 with Susan 18 & Mary 16 prob. his
sister, emb. at London with a Mary With 62 perh. mother of
them all, 11 Sept. 1635 in the Hopewell, Capt. Babb, but I can
find no trace of them on our side of the water.’’
Since this Robert Withee is the only one of that name found
by Savage, he may have been the progenitor of the James Mac-
withey found early at Dedham, Mass., the ancestor of the
Preston, Conn., family. From this line there are descendants
living in various parts of the United States, many of whom are
entirely without information of their ancestry, yet who are
desirous of knowing from what kind of people they descend.
For them this account of the Preston family has been compiled.
James! Macwirney of Dedham, married (1) at Dedham, in
Nov. 1662, Mary Evererr. She was the Mary Everett b. at
Dedham, 28 Sept. 1638, daughter of Richard and Mary (Winch)
Everett of Dedham. (Dedham B. M. & D. 1-3.) The name
Mackwithey has various spellings; in this marriage record it
reads: ‘‘ James Makarory & Mary Euritt was married 9 month,
62.’’ (Ibid, 1-8.) She died 13 June 1670 (Ibid, 1-12).
He married (2) at Dedham, 20 Feb. 1670/1, Patience Cubby
(Ibid, 1-12). They had no children.
He married (3) Experience, surname unknown.
Children by Mary, Dedham B. M. & D. :*
i. Mary’, b. 17 Sept. 1663 (1-9).
1 it. JAMES, b. abt. 1665; m. Beruian
Dedham 1695-1709.
2 iii, Dante, b. 19 Mar. 1667/8 (1-10).
iv. MarGaret, b. 3 June 1670, d. 20 June 1670 (1-12).
, and had children b. at
Children by Experience :
v. SaRaH. b. 23 Feb. 1675 (1-14).
3 vi. Davin, b. 17 Apr. 1678 (1-16).
* Richard Everett d. 3 July 1682. His will bequeathed seven acres to James Macker-
withy, after whose death the land was to be divided equally between “‘my three grand-
children James, Daniel and Mary Mackerwithy being the children that the said Macker-
withy had by my daughter Mary.”
142 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
3. Davin? MacwitrHey (James'), born at Dedham, 17 Apr.
1678, a weaver, of East Hampton, Long Island, and Preston,
Conn., died 10 June 1756 (from inventory), Preston, Conn.,
leaving a wife EvizaserH and children. The widow was alive
3 Apr. 1765 when she leases land. David Macwithey first
appears at East Hampton when he buys five acres of land for
£4-5s. on 26 Nov. 1703, of Ephraim Osborne of that place, hus-
bandman, at a place called Wainscot. Ephraim Osborne and
Elizabeth Osborne sign. (East Hampton, L. I1., New York,
Town Records (1889), Vol. 3, Page 77.)
David Maewithey of East Hampton, weaver, sells this land
31 Oct. 1710 to Nathaniel Parke of Shelter Island, New York,
for £40, and his wife Elizabeth Macwithie surrenders all right
of dowry, ete. (Ibid, Vol. 3, Page 261).
The same day David Maewithey buys about 70 acres of land
in Preston, Conn., for £40, of Nathaniell Parke of Shelter Island,
cooper, partly on commons, near Ebenezer Williams .... (Pres-
ton, Conn., Land Records, Vol. 3, Page 11).
In 1716, David Mackerlithee buys an addition of land ‘‘to
make his former lott in quantity for what it wants in quality of
ye other lott’’.... (Ibid, Vol. 3, Page 66). 12 Nov. 1725,
David Mackerwithee sells to his son David .... 8 acres for
8 pounds... . (bid, Vol. 4, Page 379). 13 Feb. 1731/2, David
Mackerwithee sells for love and affection to son James a parcel
of land.... (Ibid, Vol. 4, Page 1037). 29 Mar. 1731/2, David
Mackerwithee sells for love and affection to loving son John a
parcel of land .... (Ibid, Vol. 5, Page 390). 2 Sept. 1743,
David Mackerwithee for natural love, etc., sells to son Ephraim
a parcel of land... . (Ibid, Vol. 5, Page 405).
David Macwethey’s will was dated 21 Apr. 1756 and proved
6 July 1756. In it he mentions being weak and under difficult
circumstances of body. He leaves his beloved wife Elizabeth all
moveables except his broad axe and great bible .... He leaves
to son James Mac Wethey these two treasures and also land
southwardly of sd James’s own land near Coit’s, near his grist
mill & Benjamin Kimball’s land which was John Mae Wethey’s
land .... to daughter-in-law Marey Mac Wethey he leaves the
improvement of 40 acres land after his wife’s decease... .
during her lifetime, and after to go to his two grandchildren the
heirs of his son Ephraim Mac Wethey dec’d, the land near
Samuel Partridge & Belcher’s land & Samuel Partridge Jr.’s
land & Ephraim Mac Wethey’s land, 40 acres.... He leaves to
his wife all remainder of land and buildings .. . . to son David
5s. which with what he had already had was his portion .. . . to
son John the same .... to daughter Elizabeth Mulkins the
same .... to daughter Sarah Griffith the same ... . son James
to be executor .... Peter Harris, John Coye and John Green
Junr. were witnesses.
MACWITHEY FAMILY OF PRESTON, CONNECTICUT 143
The inventory was taken by Stephen Tucker and Elijah
Belcher, 5 July 1756, in which the only land mentioned was the
farm, with buildings and privileges, where he lived. (Norwich
Probate District, Vol. 1, Page 450.) His other land was given
to his sons during his lifetime, and from these deeds we get
their names.
The widow Elizabeth Mackerwithee leases to Grandson Lemuel
MacWethy part of the land her dearly beloved husband David
gave to her in his last will and testament .. . . boundaries were
by lands of sons James, John, Ephraim ....1757 (Preston Land
Records, Vol. 7, Page 490).
3 Apr. 1765, Elizabeth MacWethey, widow, and Stephen Gates
and his wife Mercy, all of Preston, ‘‘Doth farm Let and Get’’
to David Green and wife Mary of sd Preston for term of natural
life of sd Elizabeth and Mary, land given to said Mary, wife of
David Green, and Elijah, her brother, by David Mackwethey in
his last will and testament (Jbid, Vol. 8, Page 205). From this
lease we learn that the widow of Ephraim had married Stephen
Gates of Preston before 3 Apr. 1765, and that the widow Eliza-
beth survived her husband some years.
Children of David & Elizabeth:
4 i. James*, m. 8 Sept. 1730, JupirH Luce.
5 ii. Davin, m. 3 Apr. 1722, "ABIGAIL
6 iii. Eparamm, m. MERCY Luce.
7 iv. JOHN, m. 22 May 1738, EvizaBeTH Luce.
v. ELIzABETH, b. 20 Mar. 1712/13 Preston, m. 3 Jan. 1734, JoHN
MuLkEIns of Canterbury (Preston 2d Ch. Rec.).
vi. SarRaH, m. 11 Nov. 1736, James GrirrirH of Kingstown, R. I.
(Preston 2d Ch. Rec.).
4. James® Macwiruey (David?, James‘), lived in Preston
and Canterbury, Conn. He married (1) 8 Sept. 1730, JupirH
LuseE (Preston Vit. Ree. 1-108), who was born at Chilmark,
Mass., 30 Sept. 1705, daughter of Josiah? & Sarah* (Allen)
Luce* of Chilmark, Mass., and Windham, Conn. He married (2)
Eunice (Capy) Srapies, born at Pomfret, Conn., 15 Aug. 1720,
daughter of Ezekiel and Abigail (Cady) Cady, and widow of
Jacob Staples of Canterbury. He died between 11 May and
6 Dee. 1785 (will dated and proved). I, James wethy of Can-
terbury .... being visited with a Lingering Sickness and being
Considerably advanced in age .... to beloved wife Eunice all
the household goods & livestock that she owned and brought
with her when I married her together with 2 cows & a calf &
2 hogs & a great bible... . & also the improvement of all my
lands except what is otherwise disposed of . ... during her
widowhood ete..... to my 3 sons, James, Lemuel & Amasa....
* Luce: Josiah? & Sarah® Allen; Henry!.
Allen: James? & Elizabeth Partridge; Samuel? & (1) Anne.
144 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
to my son James & his son Philip, my grandson ... . have already
given to oldest dau. Sibel her full portion .... to 3 daus.
Expearence, Azube & Juda... . beloved wife and son Lemuel
to be executors. Selve Cheney, Betty Tyler and Reuben Harris
witnessed. Elizabeth Adams receipts 20 Apr. 1786 on her
father’s account .... Elisabeth Geer receipts 22 Apr. 1786... .
(Plainfield Probate District, No. 2224, Connecticut State
Library. )
Eunice must have been a well-to-do widow when she married
James Maewethey. Her will was made 10 Oct. 1805 and proved
7 Apr. 1807. Eunice Wethey of Brooklyn, Connecticut... .
being advanced in life ... . to beloved daughter Eunice Stark-
weather . . . . to beloved grandson Septimmious Staples ... . to
grandson Joseph Staples .... to granddaughter Molly Shurtleff
.... to daughter Sarah Gorham .... to son Abel Staples....
to granddaughter Lorra Staples when 18... . friend Roswell
Parish of Canterbury to be sole executor. James Rude, Benoni
Taylor and Abigail Winter witnesses. Joseph Gorham receipts
.... Mary Shirtlif receipts from grandmother’s estate. .. .
(Plainfield Probate District, No. 2223, Connecticut State
Library).
Children of James and Judith (Preston, Vit. Ree. 1-108) :
i. b. 14 June 1731.
ii, ExXPpEriENcr, b. 10 June 1733.
8 iii. James, b. 6 July 1735; had son Philip. He may be the James
Withee with wife Sarah, had Daniel, b. 30 Sept. 1760, d. 6 Jan.
1779 ae. 9 yrs. 3 mos.; James, b. 18 Jan. 1763, d. 17 Feb. 1855
ae. 93; Nathaniel, b. 5 Oct. 1765; John, b. 2 Feb. 1768, d.
6 June 1772 ae. 4 yrs. 4 mos.; William Parker, b. 2 July 1770;
Sarah, b. 24 Sept. 1772; John, b. 4 Sept. 1774, d. 17 July 1783;
Daniel, b. 13 Aug. 1779. 1753, James Withee, a cellar dug, and
three acres cleared and broke up. 1796, 4 Apr. (d.) James
Wethee. 1799, 20 Mar. James Withee’s taxes abated. ‘‘The
town favored him on account of his losing his barn and rye and
hay by fire.’’ (History of Mason, N. H. (1858) John B. Hill,
pp. 40, 136, 176, 177, 192, 208, 221).
9 iv. LEMUEL, b. 6 June 1737; m. 1 Jan. 1757, Mary MULKINS.
v. ZuBE, b. 28 July 1739.
vi. JupiTH, b. 24 Apr. 1741.
10 vii. Amasa, b. 27 Sept. 1745; m. 2 Oct. 1765, Atice AppLy of Plain-
field (Preston 2nd Ch. Rec.).
5. Davin® Macwirury (David?, James"), of Preston, Conn.,
m. 3 Apr. 1722 Apicam Park (Preston 2nd Ch. Rec.). As we
have seen, he received land from his father. On 22 Apr. 1727,
he sold land to Thomas Rose, Jr., of Preston .... land in Preston
bounded by the southwest corner of Nicholas Rich’s land... .
running southerly by the northeast corner bound of Deacon
Caleb Fobes’s 1st division lot & ye northwest corner of sd Fobes’s
2nd division lot ... . running easterly & bounded by ye 3rd 2nd
MACWITHEY FAMILY OF PRESTON, CONNECTICUT 145
division lot to a white oak tree marked with E R which is ye
northwest corner bounds of Jacob Rudes land .... near Rich’s
land .... John Crery and Josiah Bump witnessed and it was
recorded 23 Apr. 1727. David Macwithee Junr. acknowledged
his signature at Plainfield. (Preston Land Records, Vol. 4,
Page 781.) This land was on the border between Preston and
Plainfield, but he lived in the town of Preston and was a member
of the Second or North Preston Society. This church was later
in the town of Griswold, and called the Pachaug Church.
Children of David and Abigail, baptisms from the Preston
2nd Church, the last three from Voluntown, Conn., Vit. Rec.,
1-32:
11 i. ReEvsBen‘, bp. 21 Nov. 1739, possibly the Reuben MeWe( )thy who
m. ZERUIAH WHITNEY of Plainfield, 1 Nov. 1749 (Kent, Conn.,
Ch. Rec.).
ii, ELizaBeru, bp. 21 Nov. 1739.
iii. OLIVE, bp. 21 Nov. 1739.
12 iv. Simeon, b. 7 Mar. 1739; bp. 21 Nov. 1739; m. Saran VAN Dozer.
He was living 1810 Fair Haven, Vt. His son Levi m. 14 Oct.
1807 Lorinda Church (Family record).
v. EsTuHer, bp. 13 Aug. 1741.
vi. Hannan, b. 11 Oct. 1743; bp. 18 Dec. 1743.
vii. Isaac, b. 26 Oct. 1745; m. Polly Miller. Mrs. Isaac MeWethy
joined the church 1784, Granville, New York. In 1785 Isaae
MeWethy had 5 children baptized there: Francis, Silas, Isaac,
Louis & Rufus. Silas, who was born 1775 had a son Martin
born in 1808 (Fam. Rec.).
viii. RAacHEL, b. 12 Aug. 1748.
6. Epxrarm® Macwituey (David?, James'), of Preston, Conn.,
died 1 Mar. 1753 (Preston Vit. Ree., 2-15), married Mercy
Luce, daughter of Josiah? and Sarah* (Allen) Luce of Wind-
ham, Conn. (Hist. Martha’s Vineyard, 3-252), who married (2)
Stephen Gates of Preston (Preston Land Records, 8-205).
19 Feb. 1753 .... I, Ephraim Macwethey of Preston, Conn.,
‘‘being under great Weakness and infirmity of body but of a
Disposing mind’’. . . . to well beloved wife Merey ... . all
moveables . . . . except wearing apparel .... to be hers for-
ever ....and 1/3 of the improvement of my house and land that
lyes in Preston during her natural life .... ‘‘I Give and
bequeath my Hous and all my Lands both in Preston & Kent
to my Well beloved son Elijah Maewethey to him his heirs’’... .
& all wearing apparel... . ‘‘and it is my Will that my land
Lying in Kent should be sold & I do hearby order & impower
my Executors hearafter Named to sel sd Land & keep the mony
at intrest untill my sd son come to lawful age which I Judg
will be most profitable for him’’.... ‘‘I Give and bequeath to
my Well beloved Daughter Molly Macwethey one hundred
Pounds old tenor .... and my Will is that my son Elijah
]
146 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Maewethey Pay to his sister Molly fifty Pounds of sd mony
upon har Marrig Day if She dus not marry before he is of
Lawful age that then. he shall Pay har fifty Pounds & the other
fifty Pounds a year after’’.... loving wife Mercy & my loving
brother John MacWethey to be joynt executors. Elijah Belcher,
John Coye & James Braman witnessed the will, which was proved
3 Apr. 1753 at Preston. The inventory, taken 6 July 1753,
amounted to £68-10-6. (Norwich Probate District, No. 7404,
Connecticut State Library.)
Children of Ephraim and Mercy from Preston, 2nd Ch. Ree. :
14 +i. Enigsan*t, bp. 7 July 1743; m. 13 Nov. 1763, Mercy Gates.
ii. EpHraim, bp. 7 July 1743; not mentioned in his father’s will,
1753.
15 iii. Mary, bp. 3 Apr. 1745 (b. 1742 from gravestone), m. 1 Oct. 1761,
Lr. DAvip GREEN,
7. Joun® Macwituey (David*, James'), of Preston, Conn.,
married 22 May 1738 Euizasera Luce of Windham, Conn.
(Preston Vit. Rec. 1-80), daughter of Josiah* and Sarah® (Allen)
Luce of Windham (Hist. Martha’s Vineyard, 3-252).
The History of Martha’s Vineyard by Banks (1925), Vol. 3,
Page 252, states that Mary Luce, daughter of Josiah? Luce,
married Ephraim Wealthy, and that Elizabeth daughter of
Josiah, her sister, married John Mackworth. The marriage of
their sister Judah is not given. Undoubtedly these three sisters
married the three Maewithey brothers: James, Ephraim and
John. Josiah? Luce moved to Windham, Conn., where perhaps
some of the children were born. ‘‘John Mackweathy of Preston
m. Elizabeth Luse of Windham,’’ 22 May, 1738 (Preston Vit.
Ree. 1-80).
Children of John and Elizabeth, the first three from Preston
Vit. Ree. 1-80, the last five from the 2nd Ch. Rec. Preston:
16 =i. NATHAN‘, b. 5 May 1739.
ii, JEDIDAH, b. 20 Mar. 1741.
iii. JERUSHA, b. 10 Mar. 1742/3.
17 iv. JOHN, bp. Mar. 1745.
18 v. Asa, bp. 3 July 1747.
vi. AME, bp. 11 Mar. 1750.
vii. SARAH, bp. 14 June 1752.
viii. Lots, bp. 13 Oct. 1754.
9. Ens. Lemuet* Macwiruey (James*, David*, James'), of
Preston, Conn., born 6 June 1737 (Preston Vit. Ree. 1-108),
died 13 Feb. 1826 ae. 89 (Gravestone Inscription, Griswold) ;
married 1 Jan. 1757, Mary Mu.xIns, his cousin, born 28 May
1738 (Preston Vit. Ree., 2-23), daughter of John and Elizabeth®
(Maewithey) Mulkins. She died 15 Aug. 1813 ae. 76. She and
MACWITHEY FAMILY OF PRESTON, CONNECTICUT 147
her husband are buried in the Pachaug Cemetery, Griswold.
The Preston families of this generation dropped the prefix and
the name was spelled Withey or Wethey. There are said to be
thirty-one different spellings of the name.
Lemuel Wethey served as Sergeant, Capt. William Belcher’s
Co., Lexington Alarm 1775 from Preston; as Sergeant, Capt.
Edward Mott’s Co., 1776, for the defense and protection of New
London harbor (Conn. Men in the Revolution, pp. 20, 617).
He was appointed Ensign of Militia 1777 (Conn. State Library,
Revolutionary Archives, Vol. X, Doc. 390c). His account of
pork sold to Army 1781 (/bid, Vol. XX XV, Doe. 6).
Children of Ens. Lemuel and Mary, all from Preston Vit.
Ree. 2-2:
i. Henry’, b. 9 Jan. 1758; m. (1) 22 Nov. 1784, KeziA WARINGTON ;
m. (2) 21 Feb. 1793, EsrHER Dimmock of Canterbury. His son
Thomas was b. 24 Dee. 1793 and there were 3 other sons and a
daughter.
ii. Sara, b. 4 Sept. 1760; m. 2 May 1782, Evisua Kine of Norwich.
iii. JEDUTHAN, b. 3 Oct. 1762; m. (1) ; m. (2) PHEBE
(THORNE) Comrort. He resided in Preston until near the close
of the Revolution, then moved to New Lebanon, N. Y., where
he lived four or five years after the close of the war, then
moved to Sunderland, Vt., lived there nine years, thence to
Bradford County, Pa.
Jeduthan Wethy made application for pension Sept. 19, 1833,
at which time he was aged 67 years, and a resident of Canton
Township, Bradford Co., Pa., and stated that while a resident
of Preston, Conn., he enlisted in July of the year of the battle
of White Plains, served as private 42 days in Capt. Alvin Coit’s
company, Col. Mott’s Conn. Regt. and that he assisted in build-
ing Fort Groton. This service was rendered as substitute for
Henry Withey, no relationship given. He stated that he enlisted
sometime during the year 1778, served 4 months as private in
Capt. William Cutler’s Co., under Major Andrew Backus, that
he joined this company at Canterbury, Conn., that he was in
General Sullivan’s Expedition to Rhode Island and was in the
battle of Rhode Island, where he received a slight bullet wound
in his left arm; that he enlisted at New Lebanon, New York,
and served 42 days as private in Capt. Backus’s Co., Col. Brown’s
: New York Regt. and was in a battle with the Indians. His
claim for pension was not allowed as he failed to furnish proof
of service as required by pension laws.
In 1853, soldier’s widow, Phebe Withey, was a resident of
Canton Township, Bradford Co., Pa., her maiden name and date
and place of their marriage are not given. In 1854 soldier’s
son, Elias Withey, was living in Tioga Co., Pa. (Veterans
Administration, Washington, D. C.). He had Lemuel, Elias,
Samuel, Roxy, and Sarah, b. 25 July 1791 Vt., m. 5 Jan, 1809
Origen Wheeler, son of Capt. Isaac Wheeler (Virkus’s Com-
pendium, Vol. VII, p. 198).
iv. Eurnor, b. 25 Mar. 1765; m. 8 Mar. 1792, GrorGe NorTHrop
(Preston Vit. Ree., 2-322). He d. 25 Apr. 1850 ae. 81 and she
d. 20 Oct. 1849. They are buried in the Pachaug Cemetery,
Griswold. Issue.
148 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
v. Sarau, b. 10 June 1768.
vi. Lypia, b. 6 June 1770; m. 2 Dec. 1792, FreEMAN Kenyon of
Exeter, R. I., b. 28 Jan. 1769, son of John (Exeter, R. I. Vit.
Ree., 3-199) (Preston 2nd Ch.).
vii. STEPHEN, b. 27 Feb. 1772; m. 25 Jan. 1795, Lyp1a Geer (Ibid).
viii. EisHa, b. 5 Mar. 1775.
i Mary, b. 23 Dee. 1776; m. 4 Oct. 1798, JoHN KeNNepy of Volun-
town (Preston 2nd Ch.).
x. Etas, b. 6 Aug. 1779.
xi. Witiiam, b. 8 Aug. 1783; m. 1 Apr. 1807, ELizaABETH MANNING,
b. Windham, 26 Jan. 1789, dau. of Joel’ and Abigail (Bundy)
Manning. She d. 16 Feb. 1867 ae. 78 and was buried in the
Pachaug Cemetery beside her husband who d. 9 Aug. 1871 ae.
88. Their children b. Griswold (Vit. Ree. 1-155): Rev. Ezra,
b. 4 June 1808, m. (1) 9 Sept. 1833, Harriet Edgerton, m. (2)
12 June 1855, Mary E. Robinson; Frances, b. 4 July 1811, d.
15 May 1814 ae. 2 yrs. 10 das. (gr. st.); Sanford, b. 13 Feb.
1816, d. 9 Oct. 1831 ae. 16 (gr. st.) ; Abby Jane, b. 5 Mar. 1819,
d. 3 June 1839 ae. 20 (gr. st.); Alfred Manning, b. 25 Sept.
1823, d. 24 June 1852 ae. 29 (gr. st.). (Manning Genealogy,
pp. 382-3.)
10. Amasa*t Macwirney (James*, David?, James‘), of Pres-
ton and Plainfield, Conn., born 27 Sept. 1745 (Preston Vit. Rec.,
1-108) ; married 2 Oct. 1765, Atice Appty of Plainfield (Preston
2nd Ch.), probably daughter of James Apply (born 6 Apr. 1711,
son of Daniel) and Alice Larrabee. She owned covenant 5 Sept.
1768, Plainfield Church. 13 Sept. 1779 Alice Withey Wife to
Amasa Withey was debarr’d communing on acct of past conduct,
having been deteriorate & made no acknowledgment to the
Church for conduct which could not be justified but by confes-
sion & repentance (N. EL. Hist. & Gen. Reg., Vol. 70, Pages 177,
317).
Children from Plainfield Ch. Ree. (Tbid, Vol. 70, p. 222) :
i. Eunice’, bp. 9 May 1770.
ii. Huwpa, bp. 27 Oct. 1771.
iii. ABIGAIL, bp. 27 Oct. 1771.
14. Exnisan* Werney (Ephraim®, David?, James'), of Gris-
wold, Conn., baptized 7 July 1743 (Preston 2nd Ch.), died
7 Feb. 1816 ae. 73 (Griswold Vit. Ree., 1-30, and gr. st.). He
married 13 Nov. 1763, Mercy Gates (Preston Vit. Rec., 2-220),
probably a widow with children. She predeceased him. His
will mentions deceased wife, granddaughter Lucy Geer, son
Luther Gates, grandson Nathan Geer, son Ezra Gates, and
daughter Selinda Washburn who was to have the residue (Nor-
wich Probate District, No. 11723, Conn. State Library).
Child of Elijah and Mercy (Preston Vit. Rec., 2-220) :
i. Sevimnpa‘’, b. 6 Jan. 1774; m. EL1gJAH WASHBURN.
MACWITHEY FAMILY OF PRESTON, CONNECTICUT 149
15. Mary* Witney (Ephraim*, David*, James'), baptized
3 Apr. 1745 (Preston 2nd Ch.) ; married 1 Oct. 1761, Lizur.
Davin GREEN (John, William), of Griswold. He was born 22
Nov. 1737 (Preston Vit. Rec., 1-42), died 2 June 1832 in 96th
yr. She died 2 Dec. 1828 ae. 86. They are buried in the Green
Family Burying Ground, Griswold. Mr. Daniel Phillips, com-
piler of the History of Griswold, Conn. (p. 337), says that Lt.
David Green was at the Lexington Alarm, Militia 77, 82. Ina
copy which he made of the Inscriptions in Griswold Cemeteries,
presented to the Otis Library, Norwich, Conn., he says:
‘On the farm owned by William Briggs, known as the Nathl
Wilcox farm, on a rounded hill near the road which leads from
Hopeville to Stone Hill, on the right-hand side of the road is a
small grave yard known as the Green Burying Ground.
‘On this farm David Green, who was of the same stock as
the Greens of Spy Rock, lived and died.
‘‘In middle life a soldier in the American Revolution and
attained the rank of lieutenant and ever after was honorably
known in the community in which he lived as Leftenant David
Green.
‘*Record evidence seems to show, though it appears beyond
belief, that he was married at 14 to Molly Wethey who was not
beyond the age of 10 and that their married life covered a period
of 77 years. He lived to ripe old age of 95 and is the oldest
person in this yard.
‘‘There are 24 inscriptions and 20 graves unmarked.’’
The Preston Vital Records agree with Mr. Phillips’s statement
that apparently David Green aged 14 married Molly Withey
aged 10 and that their first child was born when she was 11
(Preston Vit. Ree. 1-42). However, these startling data cannot
be correct. After a careful check of these town records with
the present assistant town clerk, Mrs. Charles Geisthardt, the
conclusion was reached that a former town clerk made a mistake
of ten years in the marriage of David and Molly and in the
birth of their first child. These dates should read, married 1761
(not 1751), and born 1762 (not 1752), in which case the other
children follow along as might be expected. As the record
stands there would be a gap of fourteen years between the birth
of the first child and of the next, certainly a strange hiatus for
such an uncommonly mature woman. This book of records is
not the original one but a copy made at a later date, hence a
mistake could easily have been made. In her father’s will
already quoted, Molly was to receive one hundred pounds upon
marriage and if she does not marry her brother Elijah is to pay
her fifty pounds when he becomes of age and the other fifty the
year after. This will was made 19 Feb. 1753, two years after
the marriage as recorded and one year after the birth of the
first-born, Benajah, and proved the vital entries wrong.
150 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Children of Lieut. David and Molly (Withey) Green, from
Preston Vit. Rec. 2-145:
i. BENAJAH', b. 22 May 1762; m. CurIsTOBALt CRARY.*
ii. Sapau, b. 19 May 1766.
iii. Pouty, b. 22 Mar. 1770.
iv. AARON, b. 28 July 1772.
v. WIiLuiaAM, b. 14 Nov. 1774.
vi. MEHETABLE, b. 9 Aug. 1777.
vii. EuisHa, b. 25 Feb. 1780.
viii. Brtsry, b. 3 Jan. 1782.
ix. Lyn, b. 26 June 1784.
x. Parry, dau. David and Molly, d. 30 Apr. 1853 in 62 yr.
A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE OGLESBY FAMILY
By Oaiessy M.D., of Boston, Mass.
In the January 1941 issue of THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST,
pages 144-151, the author published a brief article on the Oglesby
family of Virginia, and especially on Joseph Oglesby. At that
time, it was stated that Joseph Oglesby’s grandparents were
probably Richard Oglesby and Sarah Ferguson of Goochland
County, Virginia. Recent researches in the county records in
Virginia now provide convincing evidence for this, and also give
considerable further data on the family. The following gene-
alogical account therefore supplements the author’s previous
article.
Richard Oglesby, father of William Oglesby and grandfather
of Joseph Oglesby, can first be located in Goochland County,
Virginia, in 1756 when the following item was recorded in the
Douglas Register’: ‘‘Richard Ogilsby & Sarah ffergusson
deceased a Son named James born dec: 17. 1756.’’ It is clear
that this Sarah Ferguson died in childbirth, and it seems that
this son James (of whom there is no further trace) was probably
her fourth child. It is perhaps significant that Richard
Oglesby’s son William named his eldest daughter Sarah.
Two years later, we find in the same source that ‘‘ Richard
Ogilsby & Elizabeth Price’’ were married September 3, 1758.
The Goochland County Marriage Bonds? also record a bond on
* Crary: Benjamin? & (1) Amey® Stanton; Robert? & Elizabeth; Peter! & Christobel*
Gallup;
Stanton: John* & Desire Denison; John® & Mary Starkweather; Capt. John? &
Hannah Thompson; Thomas! & Ann Lord, dau. Thomas? & Dorothy (Bird) Lord;
Gallup: John? & Hannah Lake, dau. John & Margaret Lake; John? & Christobel ;
William® & Mary* Avery; John? & Phebe Lay, dau. Robert; Capt. George’
Denison:
& Ann Borodell;
Avery: John® & Abigail? Chesebrough; Capt. James? & (1) Joanna Greenslade;
Christopher! ;
Chesebrough: Samuel? & Abigail Ingraham: William’ & Anna Stevenson.
1 The Douglas Register, ed. by W. Mac Jones, Richmond, Va., 1928. This register
contains the birth, marriage, and death records of the Rev. William Douglas who was
the Oglesby family’s minister over more than 20 vears,
2 Wilham & Mary College Quarterly 7:102, 127, 197: 1898-99.
A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE OGLESBY FAMILY 151
August 29, 1758, between Richard Oglesby and Elizabeth Curd,
widow of John Curd. A glance at The Curd Family in America
by Frank D. Fuller and Thomas H. 8. Curd (Rutland, Vt., 1938)
shows that John Curd, died 1752, married Elizabeth Price,
daughter of Daniel Price and his wife Mary, and had by her
eight children, viz.: John, William, Joseph, Mary, Charles,
James, Elizabeth, and Ann. Our next record comes again from
the Douglas Register! which lists ‘‘Richard Ogilsby & Eliz:
Price a son named Jesse born Mar: 24 1759. Baptized 1759
May 2.’’ On July 21, 1762, Richard Oglesby was witness to a
marriage bond between Edward Redford and Ann Curd (the
niece of John Curd, Elizabeth (Price) Curd Oglesby’s first
husband) in Goochland County.* The Douglas Register also
lists the following which may or may not apply to Elizabeth
(Price) Curd Oglesby: ‘‘Sep: 23, 1774—Mrs. Ogilvy’s fun:
Sermon on Philip 1:22-24.—in Gooch.’’ and ‘‘Sep: 27, 1774—
Preached at Mrs. Oglivy’s fun:’’ In view of the fact that Rich-
ard Oglesby was married again in 1778 and was stated to be a
widower at that time, | am very much inclined to believe that
these notations do refer to his wife Elizabeth. It would of
course have been natural for the minister, Rev. William
Douglas, who had officiated at her marriage and at the baptism
of her children, to have preached at her funeral.
Next, in Amherst County, Virginia, we find the following
interesting records. On April 1, 1774, William Mitchel (or
Mitchell) of Richmond sold to ‘‘Richard Oglesbey of the County
of Goochland, planter’’ a tract of 800 acres on Buffalo River in
Amherst County, adjoining the lands of Edward Carter Esq.*
Then on March 9, 1778, an indenture was made between ‘‘ Rich-
ard Oglesbey of the County of Amherst of the one part and
William Oglesbey (son of said Richard Oglesbey) of the other
part’’ by which in consideration of ‘‘love for his son’’ and five
shillings, the father sold 300 acres of the tract purchased of
William Mitchel to his son. In the same Deed Book under date
of August 17, 1778, Richard Oglesby gave slaves to his daughters
Ann Moreland of the County of Powhatan, and Elizabeth Tour-
man of Henrico County.*. The Douglas Register’ and the Gooch-
land County Marriage Bonds? show that Ann Ogilvy married
John Moreland in Goochland on November 16, 1775; and Eliza-
beth Ogilsvy married, first, Thomas Mitchel on February 21,
1775, and then, second, on October 20, 1777, Thomas Tourman,
both marriages taking place in Goochland.
On July 6, 1778, Richard Oglesbey, widower, filed a bond in
Amherst County for marriage with Cash, a widow.® As
% Amherst County Deed Book D, page 235.
* Amherst County Deed Book E, pages 9, 74. 75.
5 Amherst County, Va., Marriage Register.
152 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
is clear from later records, she was Nancy , widow of
Benjamin Cash of Amherst County whose will was proved in
1777.2 On December 31, 1790, Richard Oglesby and Nancy his
wife sold some of his land on Buffalo River ‘‘running along line
of William Oglesby’’;? and on July 17, 1797, they disposed of
more of it.8 Also, on October 16, 1797, they with John and Sally
Cash and Joel and Betsey Cash sold part of the estate of Ben-
jamin Cash to James Shields, Junior. That is the last we hear
of Richard Oglesby.
Richard Oglesby’s son, William, has previously been discussed
to some extent, and there. are several indentures in Amherst
County bearing his signature. In one, dated October 7, 1789,
he and his wife Martha conveyed 274 acres of land to Leonard
Henley.® It appears that he owned considerable land on Rock-
fish Creek as well as on Buffalo River.
Richard Oglesby’s son Jesse is probably the Jesse Oglesby who
bought further land on Rockfish Creek in 1797;!° and married
Celia Witt in Amherst County September 15, 1794. He is men-
tioned in his brother William’s will.
The Richard Oglesby line is therefore as follows:
Richard Oglesby, born circa 1725; alive in 1797; resided in Gooch-
land and Amherst Counties, Virginia; married (1) circa 1750
Sarah Ferguson; she died following the birth of a child on
Dee. 17, 1756; (2) Sept. 3, 1758, in Goochland Co., Elizabeth
Price, widow of John Curd; it is probable that she is the ‘‘ Mrs.
Ogilvy’’ who died September, 1774; (3) July 6, 1778, in
Amherst County, Nancy , widow of Benjamin Cash. She
was alive in 1797.
Issue:
1. William, born August 22, 1751; died in 1824 in Oldham
Co., Ky.; married Dec. 29, 1771 in Henrico Co., Va., by
the Rev. William Douglas to Martha Ellis, dau. of
Joseph Ellis.
Elizabeth, married (1) Feb. 21, 1775, in Goochland Co.,
to Thomas Mitchell; (2) a widow, she married Thomas
Tourman on Oct. 20, 1777, in Goochland Co.
3. Ann, married Nov. 16, 1775, in Goochland Co. to John
Moreland. They had a son Jesse Oglesby born June 18,
1777.
James, born Dee. 17, 1756, in Goochland Co.
Jesse, born March 24, 1759, in Goochland Co. He may be
the Jesse Oglesby who married Celia Witt in Amherst
Co., Va., Sept. 15, 1794, and died March 23, 1852, in
Madison Co., Ky., and had a son Jacob, born 1801.
® County Court Note Book 10:53: 1931.
7 Amherst County Deed Book F, page 616.
8 Amherst County Deed Book H, page 224.
® Amherst County Deed Book F, page 263.
1° Amherst County Deed Book H, page 184.
A MAYFLOWER LINE PROVED AND DISPROVED
-Latimer—Dimon—Buttolph
By DonaLp Lines Jacosus, M.A., of New Haven, Conn.
The late John Reynolds Totten, in his account of the Latimer
family in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record,
vol. 52, p. 11, makes the following statement:
Robert Latimer, b. Feb. 5, 1663-4, at New London; d. Nov. 27, 1728, at
New London, and was buried there in Old Burying Ground, gravestone thus
inscribed: ‘‘ Here lyes ye body of Capt. Robert Lattemore; d. November 27,
1728, aged 67 years;’’ he m. , 1693, or previous thereto (see date of
birth of his first child) at New London, probably, to Elizabeth (Dymond)
Buttolph, as her second husband (daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth
(Bradley) Dymond, of New London, and widow of Buttolph), b.
Aug. 14, 1672; bap. Aug. 28, 1672, at New London; d. April 13, 1752
(according to Hempstead, aged about 83), at New London, and was buried
there April 14, 1752.
Many of the above statements appear in other printed sources
and are susceptible of proof by the evidence of contemporary
records or writings. The Genealogy of the Dimond or Dimon
Family, by Edwin R. Dimond (1891), pp. 14-15, states that
Thomas Dimond, born probably 1642, died at New London in
1687, married 22 Sept. 1670, Elizabeth Bradley, daughter of
Peter and Elizabeth (Brewster) Bradley of New London, and
granddaughter of Jonathan Brewster ; and had a child Elizabeth,
born 14 Aug. 1672, who married Robert Lattimore. The
Brewster Genealogy, by Emma C. B. Jones (1908), vol. 1, p. 18,
states that Elizabeth Brewster, daughter of Jonathan and grand-
daughter of Elder William, born 1 May 1637, died 1708, married
first, 7 Sept. 1653, Peter Bradley, by whom she had a daughter
Elizabeth Bradley, born 16 Mar. 1654, who married 22 Sept.
1670, Thomas Dymond.
Furthermore, the ‘‘ Brewster Book’’ itself, quoted verbatim in
The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 1, pp. 7, 71-73, gives the birth
of Elizabeth Brewster, daughter of Jonathan, on 1 May 1637,
her marriage to ‘‘Peeter Brawly’’ on 7 Sept. 1653, the birth of
their daughter ‘‘Elisabeth Brawly’’ on 16 Mar. 1654, and the
marriage of ‘‘Elisabeth Bradly’’ to ‘‘Tho*: Dymond’’ on 22
Sept. 1670. Finally, the original New London Vital Records
contain (Vol. 1, pp. 2, 7, 8) the birth of Elizabeth daughter of
Peter and Elizabeth Bradley on 16 Mar. 1654/5, the marriage
of Thomas Dymond of Stratford to Elizabeth daughter of Peter
and Elizabeth Bradley [in 1670], and the birth of Elizabeth
daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Dymond on 14 Aug. 1672.
There is therefore a proved case for the descent of Elizabeth
Dimon or Dymond, born 14 Aug. 1672, from Elder William
Brewster. Her marriage to Robert Latimer is based on a record
of the court order of distribution of the estate of her brother
154 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Moses Dymond, dated 10 Jan. 1715/16, between Robert Latimer,
son of a sister | Elizabeth], and Benjamin and Joseph Shapley,
sons of another sister [Ruth]. Robert Lattemore [husband of
the sister, of course] had been appointed administrator on the
estate of Moses Dimond, 18 Feb. 1706/7. |New York Gen. and
Biog. Record, vol. 52, pp. 11-12; THe AMERICAN GENEALOGIST,
vol. 11, p. 30.]
This proves that Capt. Robert Latimer married a daughter,
undoubtedly Elizabeth, of Thomas and Elizabeth (Bradley)
Dimon, who was of Mayflower descent, and also that she was
mother of his eldest son Robert. It does not prove that she was
mother of his younger children ; in fact, had she been, they ought
to have had a share in the estate of her brother Moses Dimon.
Nor does it prove that she had been the wife of a Buttolph before
she married Captain Latimer, for in that event, her Buttolph
child or children should also have shared in her brother’s estate.
The baptisms of Robert Latimer’s children are thus entered in
the records of the New London Church [Later History of the
First Church, pp. 458, 466, 470] :
15 Oct. 1693. Robt. Latimore had his child baptized, Robert.
5 Sept. 1703. Robt. Latimore’s children, Jonathan, Samuell, Peter
[baptized].
9 Nov. 1707. Ens. Latimore’s child, Anne [baptized].
It is odd that there is a gap of ten years after the baptism of
the eldest son Robert, and that then three children should have
been baptized together. This is explained if Elizabeth Dimon,
mother of Robert, died not long after his birth in 1693; and if
a second wife, mother of the younger children, did not join the
chureh until 1703.
What of the Buttolph connection? If there was a second wife,
it must have been she who was a widow Buttolph. Captain
Totten based his Buttolph statement partly on the will of Robert
Latimer, dated 12 Aug. 1727, proved 19 Dec. 1728, in which he
mentioned his wife Elizabeth, sons Robert, Jonathan, Samuel and
Peter, daughter-in-law |[i.e. step-daughter| Elizabeth Buttolph,
daughter Ann Latimer, and some grandchildren; and partly on
the Diary of Joshua Hempstead (published 1901). Entries from
the latter (pp. 204, 469, 587) read:
Nov. 28, 1728. Capt. Latimer died last night about nine Clock.
Noy. 29,1728. I was at Court & at Capt Lattimers funeral & one of the
Bearers.
Oct. 19, 1746. Last Night Elizabeth Buttolph the Daughter of Ms Latti-
mer by her first Husband Died of the Bloody flux after She had Lived a
Chaste Single life with her mother 54 years or 55,
Oct. 20,1746. toward night I went to the funeral of Elizabeth Buttolph
& was one of the Pall Barers.
Apr. 13,1752. old Ms Lattimer Died this morning, aged about 83.
Apr. 14,1752. toward night IT was att the funeral of old Ms Lattimer &
was one of the Pal! Bearers...
A MAYFLOWER LINE PROVED AND DISPROVED 155
Mrs. Elizabeth Latimer, formerly Mrs. Buttolph, can be iden-
tified as widow of George Buttolph of Wethersfield, Conn., third
child and son of Lieut. John Buttolph. George was born at
Salem, Mass., 15 Oct. 1667, and came to Wethersfield as a child
with his father’s family. Lieut. John Buttolph died at Wethers-
field 14 Jan. 1692/3, leaving a good estate, and his nuncupative
will, made the day before when very sick, gave to his son
George’s wife Elizabeth Buttolph £10 besides her husband’s
portion ‘‘for her loving, careful paines in attending of me in
my sickness.’’ |Manwaring’s Digest, Hartford Probate District,
1-422.
This establishes the name of George Buttolph’s wife as
Elizabeth. George did not long survive his father. Adminis-
tration on his estate was granted to the Widow, 13 May 1696,
with Mr. Henry Buck and John Buttolph to assist her. The
inventory, taken a day earlier by Nathaniel Boreman and Oba-
diah Dickinson, has appended to it the names and ages of the
children :
Geo: Buttolph 6 year old
Elizebeth Buttolph 3 year & a halfe
Joseph Buttolph 2 year old
| Manwaring’s Digest, 1-421, which omits the names and ages of
the children; Hartford Probate Files, No. 1041.]
Since the daughter Elizabeth was three and a half vears old
in May 1696, she was born in the latter part of 1692. Robert
Latimer’s stepdaughter died 18 Oct. 1746, and Hempstead
describes her as then aged 54 or 55 years. If aged 54, she was
born in 1692. No other Mrs. Elizabeth Buttolph is found in
the Buttolph family (of which an account may be seen in
Henry R. Stiles, History of Ancient Wethersfield, vol. 2, pp. 192,
193, 199) who was available for second marriage to Robert
Latimer, and who had a daughter Elizabeth born about 1692.
Furthermore. her elder son George settled in New London,
brought there doubtless in consequence of her marriage to Cap-
tain Latimer of that place.*
* George Buttolph bought n New Londo » 171 ind in 1712 with wife Lydia
sold her interest in the estate Mr. Ezek Pu e'd [New London Land Rs ds
6-253, 338]. Administration ‘ 1 LD d’’) was granted 11 Oct.
1736 to Titus Hurlbut On 20 Jan, 173 7/8 P Latemore gave receipt f £53.16.11 to
settle all account nd p | ! e sd Buttoiph went
away in when Lost.”’ [New “obate Fl No, 440.]
Administration on the estate of Elizabeth B fi N , ted 11 Nov,
1746 to Peter Latt f New London. ¢ [New L ndon bs bate Files, No, 438.]
George Buttoly Flisabeth Iph of Ne w London, f 875 mveved a right
in a ho muse and home Mr e Stillma: Wethersfield, 12 ne 1711 Robart
Lattemore” witnessing the deed "On 28 Feb Wa? 8, George Buttolph and E beth
Buttolph of New Lond: ind Joseph B p! f Groter l of New London C ity
had been granted to
Conn., sold to Nathanas i Bi: am of ! which
George Buttolph in 1693/4. [Wethe rsfield L nee Records, 4-52; 5
156 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Elizabeth Buttolph was a widow in 1696, three years after
the baptism of Robert son of Robert Latimer by his first wife
Elizabeth Dimon. -Supposing that she married Robert Latimer
in 1697, she could have had Latimer children born in or about
1698, 1700 and 1702; in other words, she could easily have been
mother of Jonathan, Samuel and Peter Latimer who were bap-
tized together on 5 Sept. 1703. Since no one of these sons was
named as an heir to the estate of Elizabeth Dimon’s brother
Moses Dimon, it is reasonable to infer that Mrs. Elizabeth But-
tolph was their mother.
We conclude, therefore, that Captain Robert Latimer married
first, Elizabeth Dimon, by whom he had a son Robert, baptized
15 Oct. 1693; and that he married second, in or after 1696, Mrs.
Elizabeth Buttolph, who was inferentially and almost certainly
mother of the younger children, Jonathan, Samuel, Peter, and
Anne. Who was this second Elizabeth, before she became the
wife of George Buttolph of Wethersfield? Since her first
Buttolph child was born about 1690, and her youngest Latimer
child in 1707, she was born not much later than 1670 and could
have been born a few, but not many, years earlier than that.
Hempstead’s statement, quoted above, calls her ‘‘about 83’’ at
death on 13 Apr. 1752, which would place her birth about 1669.
The two men appointed to assist her in administering her first
husband’s estate, when she was a young widow, were Mr. Henry
Buck and John Buttolph. The latter was her husband’s brother,
and it is natural to assume that the former should have been a
relative of her own. Henry and Elizabeth (Churchill) Buck
had a daughter Elizabeth, born at Wethersfield 6 June 1670.
Stiles in his History of Ancient Wethersfield (vol. 2, p. 143) says
of her as well as of two of her sisters, that she ‘‘prob. d. yg.’’,
but on what grounds he based this surmise is not clear. Henry
Buck lived to very old age, and there was no will or probate of
his estate to show who the surviving heirs were. It would
appear that he conveyed his realty to his sons in his lifetime, and
the daughters were presumably portioned at marriage. It is a
likely suggestion, but quite unproved, that Elizabeth Buck mar-
ried first, George Buttolph, and,second, Robert Latimer.
THREE GENERATIONS OF THE SUMNER FAMILY
By Mary Loverine of Lexington, Mass.*
Roger SumMNeErR, born probably near Bicester, Oxfordshire,
England, before 1570, was buried there, 3 Dec. 1608. He mar-
ried in Bicester, 2 Nov. 1602, Joan Franklin, who married see-
* Compiled for Mrs. R. E. Danielson.
THREE GENERATIONS OF THE SUMNER FAMILY 157
ondly in Bicester, Mareus Brian of Morton, nearby parish.
Marcus Brian died in 1620.
The registers of Bicester begin in 1538 and have been searched
for or by some one interested in the family. How thoroughly
they were examined is not known to the present compiler, but
the baptism of Roger Sumner did not eventuate. A William
Sumner married there, first, 11 July 1577, Alice Harte, who was
buried there, 3 Mar. 1585-86. He then married, 18 Nov. 1587,
Mary Mercer, who was buried in Bicester, his widow, 13 Sept.
1604. His children, by his second wife were: (1) Susan, bapt.
24 Jan. 1587-88; (2) Peter, bapt. 8, bur. 13 Feb. 1588-89; (3)
Roger, bapt. 25 Feb. 1589-90; (4) Richard, bapt. 25 June, bur.
29 July 1594; (5) George, bapt. 17 Aug. 1595. When Roger
Sumner made his will. he mentioned in it his brother William’s
five children, so if, as is assumed by the historians of this Sumner
family, this William was the brother of Roger, he must have had
two children by his first wife, Alice Harte. As the earliest men-
tion quoted of this family in Bicester is in 1576, it seems evident
that the family moved into the parish about that time. Possibly
William Sumner married a Bicester girl while he was living in
seme other parish and his first children were baptised there.
There seems no proof that both the marriages of William Sumner
were of the same person, although that is probably so, and it is
possible that the marriage of a William to Alice Harte may have
been a second marriage of an earlier William and that the earlier
William was Roger’s father. This hypothesis makes no allow-
ance for the five children of Roger’s brother William. If the
two marriages are of the same William, he must have been born
as early as 1557 and probably as early as 1555, and hence much
older than Roger Sumner. There is really not enough data
found to settle this point.*
In the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol.
9, pp. 297-306, is a letter from a descendant of William! Sumner,
dated 12 Dec. 1854. She writes:
‘*We have many ancient deeds, wills, inventories, letters &c.,
which I have been looking over, and which might be interesting
to some other branch of the family. These papers are in a some-
what disordered condition .. .’’
The letter appears in connection with an article on the family
and the following are listed as part of the material in her
possession.
*The other Sumner records found but not used in the Bicester Registers are:
Baptisms,
Thomas Hodge alias Somner, 31 May 1583.
Mary Sumner, 8 Mar. 1619-20.
Alice Somner, 17 Nov. 1622.
Burials,
Maud Sumner, 24 Oct. 1576.
Anne Sumner, 6 June 1632.
(Was Maud Sumner, dying in 1576, a wife of William who m. in 1577?)
158 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
1. An Indenture made 15 Sept. 1637, between Joshua Carter
& William Somner, both of Dorchester, Mass., in which Carter
sells unto Sumner his house and two homelots, together with his
great lot, and 3 Acres of Meadow next unto Mr. Roger Williams,
for £28. Signed Joshua Carter, witnessed by Oliver Purchis &
John Strong.
2. A deed from Henry Woodward of Dorchester, husband-
man, to William Sumner, of 8 acres of land, in Dorchester. Con-
sideration £14. Witnessed by Roger Clap, Hopestill Foster,
William Blake. Acknowledged by Henry Woodward & Eliza-
beth, his wife, before Humphrey Atherton, 14 (9) 1659.
3. The disposition of the lands of Roger Sumner* in the
second division in Dorchester. ‘‘This was Read before the towne
this 6:12; in 1671, and ordered to be recorded.’’
4. The Inventory of Roger Sumner’s estate, taken by order
of the Court, 20 June 1698. The Estate at Lancaster, apprized
by Ralph Houghton, James Atherton & Joseph Houghton. The
Estate at Milton, taken by Thomas Vose, Ralph Houghton &
Samuel Trescot, 14 Dec. 1700. Mary Sumner, the widow of
Roger, to have, as her thirds, the old end of the dwelling house
in Milton, valued at £18, 18°. Their eldest son, Samuel, then
deceased, had left an estate in Lancaster, a division of which was
made to his heirs. The names of the other children of Roger
mentioned in this inventory, are, William, Ebenezer, Waitstill
Tucker, Mary Nichols, & Rebeckah Hubart. To William was
given a house and 20 acres of land purchased of John Dike.
5. The Will of William Sumner, Senior, of Dorchester .. .
[See later] -
‘*6. The moveable estate of William Sumner, sen" is divided
amongst the 19 children of W™ Sumner; 12 children of Roger;
8 of George ; 13 of Samuel ; 8 of Increase ; 22 of Aaron Way.”’
The following memorandum is on the back of this document :—
‘‘Whereas it hath pleased Allmighty God in the Way of his holy
providence to Take away our honored father by death, William
Sumner, the aged, of Dorchester, this ninth day of December in
the yeare 1688. The Charges of his desente burial is as followeth
£ s. d.
In premise gloves 01 18. 09.
in Wine O1 11. 02.
It. for the Cofein 00. 8. 00.
It. for diging the grave 00. 04. 00.
It. for recording his death 00. 04. 00.
It. for ringing the bell 00 01. 00.
[ 4 06.
* Roger,? William.*
THREE GENERATIONS OF THE SUMNER FAMILY 159
There was also among this collection of old Sumner papers the
following most important document :
‘*Abstract of an Indenture made 10 April, 1650, between
William Sumner of Burecester als. Bisseter, Co. Oxon, yeoman,
on the one part, and William Swift of the same town, yeoman,
of the other part. Whereas the right hon. William late Earl of
Derby, by one fine levied before the Justices of the Common Pleas,
at Westminster, in the 39™ year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth
[1597], between Thomas Wickens and Thomas Clemens, com-
plainants, and the said Earl did grant unto the said Wickens
and Clemens one messuage and tenement, situate in Burcester, als
Biseter, in a place called St. Johns End, and all barns, courts,
gardens, &c. thereunto belonging, and one close of pasture, con-
taining, by estimation one acre of ground, lying on the West
side of said messuage, and three quarters of a yard land of
arable, and one piece of ground called Thrumwell, containing by
estimation one acre and three leies and a half, in a place called
Town Langford, and one rood of meadow in Town Langford, and
one half acre, in a place called Swan’s Nest, and all commons
belonging, all which premises were then in the possession of
Roger Sumner, his assign or assigns. To have and to hold, &e
from the feast of St. Michael, the Archangel last past before the
said fine, unto the full end of 10,000 years. And Whereas the
said Wickens and Clemens by the indenture bearing date,
22 March, in the 40™ year of the reign of Elizabeth, for the con-
sideration therein mentioned, have assigned unto the said Roger
Sumner, then of Bureester, als. Bisseter, husbandman, all the
before recited premises, &c., which the said Sumner by his last
will, noneupative, bearing date 3 Dec. 1608, did give the said
premises with the appurtenances [to his son William], and the
said William Sumner, party to these presents, son of the said
Roger, by said will proved in the Archdeacons Court; in the
diocese of Oxon may appear. Now this Indenture Witnesseth,
that the said William Sumner, in consideration of the sum of
threescore and ten pounds to him paid by the said William
Swift, at the delivery of these presents, the receipt Whereof he
doth acknowledge, doth sell unto the said Swift, all the messuage
or tenement at St. John’s End and the close aforesaid on the
west side, and the half of the [residue of the before mentioned |
premises separated from the other moiety sold by said William
Sumner unto Richard Clemens of Burcester, mercer. To have
and to hold &c. In witness whereof the parties, first above
named have set their hands and seals, the day and year first above
written. In the presence of John Dow, Harcourt Pettys,
William Botte, Jeffrey Smith.’’
The presence of this old indenture among the papers which
have been handed down in the family as far as the great-great-
160 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
granddaughter who owned them in 1854, gives positive proof of
the ancestral home of William Sumner. As he was in America
as early as 1635, it is strange that he is called, ‘‘of Burcester,’’
but he may have returned to England for the purpose of dis-
posing of this property which he was unable to do as long as his
mother lived.
The nuncupative will of Roger Sumner, abstracted from the
records at Oxford by Somerby, is also given in this article.
‘The last Will Noneupative of Roger Sumner of Burcester,
als Bysiter, in the county of Oxon, Husbandman, deceased, made
and declared by him by word of mouth, this third day of Decem-
ber, Anno Dmi 1608, in the p'sense of William Wickens, John
Hudson, and Thomas Crosse, was [as] followeth:
Imprimis, he being in his pfecte memory, his soule he
bequeathed unto the hand of Allmightie god, and his body to the
earth from whene it came, He appointed and bequeathed his
goods as followeth:
Item. I doe give and bequeathe unto Joane my wyffe, and
Willm my sonn, equally betwene them, the estate of my house,
wthall the comodyties thereof, duringe the lyfe of Joane my wife,
And, after her lyffe, the whole lyfinge to Willm my sonn and his
heyres. And it is my will that Joane, my wyfe, shall have the
gov'ment and rule of Willm, my sonn, duringe all the time of
his mynoritie, untill he come to the full age of xxj yeres. And
further, I do give and bequeath unto W™ my sonn xxj!® vj® viij*
of lawful English money, to be paid him at his age of xxj‘*
yeres, or at the day of death of Joane my wyfe, if she happen
to dye or decease before my sonn Will™ come te the said age of
one and Twentie yeres. Item, it is my will, that Joane, my wyfe,
shall not make anie manner of Wylful wast or spoyle upon the
said lyfinge and premisses, during the lyfe of said Joane, my
wyfe. Item, I doe give and bequeath unto my brother Willm,
Sumner, his Children, being five of them, xxx* of lawful English
money to be equally divided betwene them, to be paid them w™
in one yere next after my decease. The rest of all my goods, as
well moveable as unmoveable, my debts paid, my funeral dis-
charged, and this my last will and testam' fulfilled and kepte, I
doe give and bequeathe unto Joane, my wyfe, whom I doe make
my whole Executrix of this my last will and testement. I
appointe ov'seers of this my last will and testament, Willm
Wickens & Henry Francklin.’’ [This will is signed by ‘‘John
Hedson Wm Wykins Thomas Crosse.] ‘‘Proved 22 Mar.
1608-09.’’
It is evident from this will that Roger Sumner was a young
man when he died and that his parents had deceased and that he
and his brother William were the only surviving children of
their parents. It is hardly likely that Roger would have remem-
THREE GENERATIONS OF THE SUMNER FAMILY 161
bered his brother William’s children and not mentioned in any
way his other brothers and sisters or father and mother if there
were any of them living.*
Child, born in Bicester, Oxfordshire, Eng. :
1, Witiiam’, bapt. 27 Jan. 160405; m. Mary Swirt. The emi-
grant to New England.
Wiiuiam' Sumner (Roger), baptised in Bicester, Oxfordshire,
England, 27 Jan. 1604-05, died in Dorchester, Mass., 9 Dec. 1688.
He married in Bicester, 22 Oct. 1625, Mary Swift, born probably
about 1606-07, died in Dorchester, 7 June 1676, sister of Thomas
Swift.
Owing to a misreading of the Bicester register, it has always
been written that William Sumner’s wife was Mary West. The
present compiler’s attention was caught by the statement in
Thomas Swift’s will that he made his overseers, his brothers-in-
law, John Capen and William Sumner. The will of Dorothy
(Capen) Upshall, made 30 Aug. 1673, mentions her brother John
Capen and sisters Elizabeth Swift and Honour Hannum. She
does not mention any sister Mary Sumner, although the latter
was still living, so Mary, wife of William Sumner was not a
Capen, nor was Elizabeth Swift a West. Evidently then William
was not a brother-in-law of Thomas Swift because his wife was
a sister of Thomas Swift’s wife Elizabeth Capen nor because
Thomas Swift’s wife might have been a Sumner and a sister of
William, for he was an only child. The only way that Sumner
could be a brother-in-law was for him to have married Thomas
Swift’s sister. It seemed wise therefore to have that marriage
record checked. A letter to the vicar of Bicester Church brought
the following answer; he was asked to check very carefully.
He wrote: ‘‘In reply to your letter of Dec. 20, 1932 asking about
the Entry in the Marriage Register of this Parish of the Mar-
* There are some other mentions of English Sumners which are interesting as showing
not only that the surname is found in other localities but also that the name Roger, a
rather unusual name, appears in the other branches.
“Arthur Somner of Chittlehampton in the County of Devon, fuller, 25 May 1637,
proved 10 Oct. 1637. Son John, son Roger (under twenty-one), daughter Ales Somner,
godson John Somner, my brother John’s three other children, my brother William Som-
ner’s two children, uncle John Tanner’s children. Wife Mary to be executrix and brothers
John Somner, William Somner & Lewis Smale to be overseers. Goare, 129."" (Gene-
alogical Gleanings in England, Waters, p. 202.)
“William Sumpner of Waltham Holy Cross, co. Essex, 12 Feb. 1656, proved 7 May
1657, by Roger Sumpner, one of the executors. To daughter Susan Williams, daughter
Mary Sumpner, son William; wife Jane and youngest son Roger executors. The over-
seers to be brother Roger Sumpner and brother-in-law William Sawdrie.’’ (ibid., p. 2.)
The prevalence of the names Roger and William suggests that these people may be of
kin to those of Bicester, who evidently moved into that parish rather late in the sixteenth
century, but the counties of Oxford, Devon, and Essex are not even adjacent shires.
The following record may be of a kinsman of the Waltham Sumners. It is found in
the Church of the Virgin Mary and all Saints, manor of Kechin Hall, half tented of
Harton, co. Essex:
“Near this place lies the body of Mr. William Sumner, last tenant to the last Lord
Abbot of St Edmond’s Bury. He gave towards the beautifying this Church, 10. 68. 11d.
He died A.D. 1559." (History of Esser, Salmon, p. 73.)
162 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
riage of William Sumner on Oct. 22, 1625. . . The Register is
somewhat faded & the writing a little indistinct & on first sight
the name looks rather like ‘‘West.’’ On closer examination
however it is quite clearly not West but Sweift. The ‘‘S’’ is
quite plain as well as the ‘‘i’’ but there is no doubt that the
name is Swift. The Entry reads:
1625. Oct. 22. William Sumner and
Mary Sweift’’
This makes the wills of Thomas Swift and Dorothy Upshall
intelligible, and there is no doubt that William Sumner’s wife
was sister of Thomas Swift. In this connection the following
record in Holy Trinity, Dorchester, Eng., is of interest:
Thomas Swift and Elizabeth Capen married 18 Oct. 1630.
William Sumner and his family were in New England before
1 Feb. 1635, when it was ‘‘ Ordered that Will: Sumner is to have
3 acres of the fresh marsh next Goodman Ford.’’ (Dorchester
Records.) As his son George was baptised in March, 1633-34
in Bicester, it is apparent that William Sumner came to New
England in 1634. In 1636, he was chosen one of the twenty
men to order the town’s affairs; and from this time on for many
years his name constantly appears in the records of the town as
holding positions of trust, he being a selectman for twenty-three
years, a rater of taxes for five years, and a Commissioner to end
small causes (7.¢., a Justice of the Peace) for nine years. When
a ‘‘baliffe’’ was needed, 24 Dec. 1645, ‘‘Sergeant Sumner”’
received the office. He was given various grants of land in
Dorchester. He is generally called just William Sumner, being
later given the addition of ‘‘Sr.’’, when his son William became
of age. In one instance he was called, ‘‘Mr.’’ William Sumner.
This was in 1641.
The following record is of interest :
‘“att the Court holden att New Towne Aprill 5 1636, it was
ordered that Willm Shepheard, serv' to Willm Sumer shalbe
whipt for stealing victuals from his m’. & beanes from the
Indians.’’ (Records of the Court of Assistants, 2:62.)
William Sumner was made a Freeman, 17 May 1637. He
represented Dorchester as a Deputy to the General Court of
Massachusetts in 1658, from 1666 to 1670, in 1672, from 1678 to
1681, and from 1683 to 1686. (Register of the Massachusetts
Society of Colonial Dames, 468.)
The Ms. Archives of Massachusetts contain many mentions of
his services to his new country and town, and the following depo-
sition is to be noted:
‘*William Sumner aged Eighty years or thereabouts, and
Richard Hall of Dorchester aged 65 years or thereabouts and
THREE GENERATIONS OF THE SUMNER FAMILY 163
Thomas Holman aged 45 years or thereabouts and Timothy Til-
stone aged 49 years or thereabouts testifieth . . . that Thomas
Swift of Dorchester deceased and Thomas Swift of Milton his
Son has possessed a tract of upland ... in... Dorchester by
tilling & mowing for the space of thirty Six years,’’ 23 Dec.
1685. (Suffolk Deeds, 13:408.)
He died testate :
‘‘T William sumner sen™ of Dorchester in the County of
suffolke in new England being through gods mercy in a Compe-
tent measure of health and understanding though aged and know
not the time of my desolution Which cannot be long: to preuent
as much as in mee lieth all Controuuersy after my decease aboute
my temporall Estate doe make my last will and testament in
Imprimis that all due debtes and charges aboute my funerall
be in the first yeare discharged: Item: my Will is that all my
lands both tillage, meadow, and pasturage and what Euer land
not yet layed out which doth of Right belong unto me with all
the housing in my present possession, that is to say all my lands
and housing in present possession to be Equally deuided into six
partes: that is to [say] one sixth part to my son Roger Sumner:
an other sixth part to my son George sumner; an other sixth
part to my son samuel sumner; an other sixth part to my son
Increase sumner; an other sixth part to my Daughter Joane
Way: and another sixth part to be Equally deuided amongst my
Eldest sons children: viz william sumners, being at present nine
of them: and if any of them die in there minorety theire shares
to Remaine to to [sic] theire mother if she suruiue them: or if
otherwise to Remaine to thos of the Children that doe suruiue:
Item: my will is that all my mouable Estate both Within doore
and without doores be Equally deuided among my grandchildren
and great grandchildren those only Excepted that are grand-
children by my son william Sumner: Who have theire sixth part
of houseing and lands aboue Expressed: Item my will is that
my debtes and funerall Charges shal be equaly born and dis-
charged by those to whom I have giuen my housing and lands:
Item my will is that What Ever I have formerly desposed of to
any of my children should not be Called in question so as to
hinder them from the Enioyment of any part of theire sixth
part formerly mentioned in this instrument I doe ordaine and
constitute my son Roger sumner: my son George sumner, my
son samuel sumner; my son Increase Sumner: and my daughter
Joane Way to be ioynt Executors and Executrix of this my last
will and testament: Item my will is that Rebecah Adams and
Anthony hancock (who were formerly my seruants) my will is
that they shall each of them haue twenty shillings to be payed
to them by my son Georg: sumner moreover I doe intreate and
maner and forme following: ......
164 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
impower my loving brethren and freinds Elder James Blake and
lift samuel Clap to be ouerseers of this my last will and
testament...
Dated the first day of march Anno-dom: 1688”’
Wit: James Blake Sen* ‘*William Sumner”’ and a seal.
John Blake.
This will was proved in Suffolk Court, 24 Mar. 1691-92. His
inventory, taken 23 Jan. 1688, amounted to £509. 19s. 11d.
(Suffolk Probate, File 1926.)
Children :
i. WituiaM’, eldest son, b. about 1627, probably in Oxfordshire, d.
Feb. 1675, Boston, Mass.; m. about 1650, ELizaBeTH CLEMENT,
b. about 1630, d. before 1684, probably in Reading, Eng., dau.
of Augustine Clement. Administration on William’s estate was
granted to Elizabeth, his widow, 27 May 1675, bondsman, Elder
John Wiswall. (Suffolk Probate, 737.) An agreement of his
children, namely William Sumner; John Trow (in behalf of
himself and Joshua Henshaw, John Goff, and Ebenezer Sumner) ;
Sarah Turell; Thomas Gould; Deliverance Sumner; and Tim-
othy Pratt as guardian to Clement Sumner; regarding the divi-
sion of his property was made, 4 May 1687. An acknowledg-
ment of this was signed, 30 Sept. 1695, at which time, Sarah
Turell had become Sarah Weeks, Deliverance Sumner had become
Deliverance Weeks, and Clement Sumner was of age. (ibid.,
17: 150.) Children (Sumner), all but first two born in Boston,
(1) Elizabeth, b. about 1652; m. Joshua Henshaw; (2) Mary,
b. about 1654; m. Nicholas How and John Trow; (3) wa iam,
b. 9 Feb. 1656; m. Rachel Avery and Hannah (4)
Hannah, b. 10 June 1659; m. John Goffe; (5) Sarah, b. 3 Feb.
1661-62; m. Joseph Turell and Joseph Weeks; (6) Experience,
b. 22 Sept. 1664; m. Thomas Gould; (7) Ebenezer, b. 30 Oct.
1666, lost in the Expedition of 1690; (8) Deliverance, b. 18 Mar.
1669; m. Ebenezer Weeks; (9) Clement, b. 6 Sept. 1671; m.
Margaret Harris; (10) Mercy, b. 6 Jan. 1674-75, d. y.
ii. JOANE, b. about 1629, probably in Oxfordshire, died in South
Carolina after 1696; m. about 1647, probably in Dorchester,
Mass., AARON Way, who died between 25 Aug. and 26 Sept. 1695,
Boston. In his will, he mentions his wife and children, namely,
Mary, Susanna, Moses, Aaron, William, and Joanna, his ‘brothers,
George Way and Increase Sumner, atid his cousin, William Ire-
land. (Suffolk Probate, 2271.) After his death Joane, his
widow, went to Dorchester, S. C., with her two brothers and some
of her children. Children (Way), born in Dorchester and Bos-
ton, Mass.: (1) Mary, bapt. 14 Jan. 1648, Dorchester; (2)
Aaron, bapt. 6 Oct. 1650, Boston; (3) William, bapt. 30 Jan.
1652, Dorchester; (4) Susanna, bapt. 1 Apr. 1660, Dorchester;
(5) Joanna, b. 5 Mar. 1663, Boston; (6) John, b. 8 May 1666,
Boston, d. y.; (7) Elizabeth, b. 23 June 1667, Boston; (8)
Moses, b. 13 June 1672, Boston.
iii. Roger, bapt. 8 Aug. 1632, Bicester, Oxfordshire, Eng., d. 26 May
1698, Milton, Mass.; m. about 1656, probably Dorchester or
Lancaster, Mass., Mary Josuin, bapt. 16 Mar. 1633-34, Barham,
Suffolk, Eng., d. "91 Aug. 1711, in her 78th yr., Milton, dau. of
Thomas and Rebecca ( ) Joslin [Josselyn]. Administra-
THREE GENERATIONS OF THE SUMNER FAMILY 165
tion on his estate was granted, 21 July 1698, to his widow Mary
and his sons, William and Ebenezer Sumner. Division of the
estate of Deacon Roger Sumner to his widow and children was
made 13 Dec. 1700, they being, the widow Mary Sumner; heirs
of Samuel Sumner, eldest son, deceased; William Sumner; Ebe-
nezer Sumner; Waitstill Tucker, eldest daughter, wife of Man-
asseh Tucker; Mary Nichols; and Rebecca Hubbard. (Suffolk
Probate, 2465.) Children (Sumner), (1) Abigail, b. 16 Nov.
1657, Dorchester, d. 19 Feb. 1657-58; (2) Samuel, b. 5 Feb.
1658-59, Dorchester, lost in the Expedition of 1690; m. probably
Experience Blake; (3) Waitstill, b. 20 Dec. 1661, Lancaster; m.
Manasseh Tucker; (4) Mary, b. 5 Aug. 1665, Lancaster; m.
Israel Nichols; (5) Jaazaniah, b. 11 Apr. 1668, Lancaster, lost
in the Expedition of 1690; (6) Rebecca, b. 9 Oct. 1671, Lan-
easter; m. Aaron Hobart and Edward Derby; (7) William, b.
26 Jan. 1674; m. Esther Puffer; (8) Ebenezer, b. 28 May 1678,
Dorchester; m. Elizabeth Clapp.
iv. GeorGe, Lieut., bapt. 1 Mar. 1633-34, Bicester, d. 11 Dec. 1715,
Milton, in his 81st yr.; m. 7 Nov. 1662, Northampton, Mass.,
Mary Baker, b. probably about 1640, d. 1 Apr. 1719, Milton,
dau. of Edward and Jane ( ) Baker. He left no will,
administration being granted to his wife and son George, the
former petitioning the Court to allow her son Benjamin to be
joined with them which was done. (Suffolk Probate, 3279.)
The widow left a will, dated 19 Aug. 1717, in which she gave to
her son Benjamin; her dau. Mary Swinerton; her grandchild
Ruth Swinerton; residue to be divided among all her children.
Son Benjamin, executor: (ibid..——.) Children, born in Dor-
chester and Milton, (1) Mary, b. 12 Feb. 1663-64, Dorchester;
m. Joseph Swinerton of Salem, Mass.; (2) George, b. 9 Feb.
1666; m. Anne Tucker; (3) Samuel, b. 19 Oct. 1668, Milton, a
Sergeant in Capt. Withington’s Co., Expedition of 1690, in which
he was lost; (4) William, b. 7 Apr. 1671, Milton, lost in the
Expedition of 1690; (5) Ebenezer, b. 9 Dee. 1673; m. Abigail
Lovett; (6) Edward, b. 29 Aug. 1676, Milton; m. Elizabeth
Clap; (7) Joseph, b. 25 Jan. 1678; m. Sarah Lovett; (8) Ben-
jamin, b. 15 Dee. 1683, Milton; m. Elizabeth Badcock.
v. SAMUEL, b. 18 May 1638, Dorchester, d. after 1698 in Dorchester,
8. C.; m. 7 Mar. 1659, Dorchester, Mass., Repecca STaPves, b.
27 Nov. 1639, Weymouth, Mass., d. after 1696 in South Carolina,
dau. of John Staples. Children (Sumner), born in Dorchester,
(1) Preserved, b. 14 May 1660, d. 25 Dee. 1675; (2) Rebecca,
b. 3 Jan. 1661-62; m. Ephraim Wilson; (3) Mary, b. 20 Mar.
1664, m. Abraham Gorton; (4) Samuel, b. 5 Mar., d. 26 May
1666; (5) Mehetable, b. 21 July 1668; (6) John, b. 1 Apr. 1670,
d. 15 Oct. 1676; (7) Thankful, b. 9 Dee. 1671; (8) Susanna,*
b. about 1672, d. 7 Nov. 1678; (9) Samuel, b. 8 Mar. 1673-74;
(10) Elizabeth, b. 19 Mar. 1675-76; (11) Ann,* born 8 Aug.
1678; (12) Nathaniel, b. 9 Nov. 1680; (13) Increase, b. 21 Aug.,
d. 3 Sept. 1684.
vi. INcREASE, b. 23 Feb. 1642-43, died after 1696+ in South Carolina;
m. 26 Mar. 1666-67, Dorchester, Mass., SARAH STAPLES, born
about 1645, probably in Weymouth, died after 1686, and prob-
* The Dorchester Records are carefully kept. It is probable that the death of Susanna,
7 Nov. 1678, refers to Ann, as the names are sometimes used interchangeably.
tIn 1696, a large body of people, chiefly from Dorchester, Mass., but with others from
Essex Co., Mass., emigrated to South Carolina, founding a town there which they named
after their home town, “Dorchester."’ The climate proved unhealthy and later many
of them removed to Midway, Ga.
166 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
ably in South Carolina after 1696, dau. of John Staples. Chil-
dren (Sumner), born in Dorchester and Milton, (1) Increase, b.
15 Jan. 1667-68, Dorchester, d. 30 Sept. 1683; (2) Sarah, b.
12 May 1669, Dorchester, d. y.; (3) William, b. 9 July 1670,
Milton, lost in Expedition of 1690; (4) Sarah, b. 15 July 1672,
Milton, d. 22 Oct. 1683; (5) Joseph, b. 24 Aug. 1674, Milton;
(6) Benjamin, b. 29 Aug. 1675, Dorchester; (7) Thankful, b.
20 June 1678, Dorchester; (8) Roger, b. 24 Apr. 1680, Dor-
chester; (9) Samuel, b. 27 July 1684, Dorchester; (10) Mehet-
able, b. 18 June 1686, Dorchester.
A BOWNE PROBLEM
By Joun INsLey CoppineTon, A.M., of Olivet, Michigan
There were two important families that bore the name of
Bowne, who settled in the middle colonies in America during
the seventeenth century. The immigrant ancestor of one of
these families was Thomas Bowne, who was baptized at Matlock,
co. Derby, England, 25 May 1595. He was a shearman, or cloth-
worker, and he migrated to the New World early in 1649, accom-
panied by his son John and his daughter Dorothy (who married
Edward Farrington). The family settled first at Boston, but
removed soon after 1651 to Flushing, L. I., where Thomas
Bowne died 18 Aug. 1677. His son John Bowne was an eminent
member of the Society of Friends, and has been called the
‘‘Pioneer of Freedom.’’ He was born at Matlock 9 of 3rd.
month (May) 1627, and died at Flushing 20 of 10 month (Dec.)
1695. He was married thrice, and from him is descended the
large and eminent family of Long Island Bownes, most of whom
were Quakers.!
The other family of Bownes is descended from William Bowne,
who is said to have come from Yorkshire with his wife Ann and
son John, and to have settled at Salem, Mass., in 1631. Four
more sons (James, Andrew, Philip and Gershom) and a daughter
were born to William and Ann Bowne at Salem. The family
removed to Gravesend, L. I., about 1645, and to Middletown,
Monmouth Co., N. J., in 1664. William Bowne died at Middle-
town about 1677. His sons were prominent men in Monmouth
Co., and all of them seem to have been associated with the
Baptist Church at Middletown. John Bowne, the eldest of them,
was a patentee of the Monmouth Patent, 8 April 1665; a Deputy
to the first legislative Assembly of East Jersey, 26 May 1668,
again a Deputy in 1675, and Speaker of the Assembly in 1683.
“4 John Cox, Jr., Some Members of the Bowne, Clement and Thorne Families of Flushing,
L. 1., N. Y.; John Cox, Jr., John Bowne, Pioneer of Freedom; William Wade Hinshaw.
Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, vol. 3 (Records of New York City and
Long Island) (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1940), pp. 39-43.
| =
A BOWNE PROBLEM 167
He was also President of the Court in 1677, and Major of the
Monmouth Co. Militia in 1683. He died at Middletown 3 Jan.
1683/4. His brother, Andrew Bowne, was a member of the
East Jersey Provincial Council in 1692, Deputy Governor of
East Jersey in 1699, and Governor of East Jersey in 1701. He
died in 1707-8.
The present article is concerned with a certain John Bowne,
who in all probability was connected with either one or the
other of the foregoing Bowne families, yet whose precise ante-
cedents and relationships have until the present remained
shrouded in obscurity. This John Bowne was a Quaker (which
leads one to believe that his connection must have been with the
Long Island, rather than the New Jersey, Bowne family). He
appeared in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in or before 1714,
and on 22 Oct. 1714 he bought 100 acres of land from Jasper
and Susannah Terry, of Bristol Township, Bucks Co. On 5 of
6th. month (Aug.) 1715, John Bowne and Mary Beakes asked
the permission of the Falls Monthly Meeting of Friends to
marry. On 3 of 9th. month (Nov.) 1715, they applied a second
time for permission to marry, and were told to proceed. There
is, however, no actual record of their marriage in the records of
the Falls Monthly Meeting; but the marriage must have taken
place very soon after 3 Nov. 1715. John and Mary (Beakes)
Bowne had three children, Mary (b. 17 Dee. 1716), Abraham
(b. 20 Jan. 1719/20), and Ann (b. 18 Feb. 1724/5). Not long
after the youngest child was born, John Bowne died, and letters
of administration on his estate were issued to his widow Mary
(Beakes) Bowne on 1 Feb. 1725/6. Mary (Beakes) Bowne
married again on 8 May 1728 Lancelot Martin, of Bristol Town-
ship; and there is a lot of information in the Bucks County
Orphans’ Court records concerning John Bowne’s estate, and
suits which were brought by the three Bowne children (Mary,
Abraham and Ann) to recover their inheritance from the
Martins. Lancelot and Mary (Beakes) (Bowne) Martin must
have been thoroughly objectionable people.
The records found in Bucks County concerning the family of
John Bowne of Bristol Township are given herewith, followed
by a pedigree in the usual form.
DEEDS
Jasper Terry and Susannah his wife to John Bowne. Jasper Terry and
Susannah his wife of Bristol Township, Bucks Co., yeoman, send greeting.
Whereas Wm. Penn Esquire Proprietary & Governor by Patent dated 24
of 1st. month 1701 did grant to Thomas Terry late of Bristol dee’d. a
piece of land in Bristol Township beginning at the corner of Edmund
Lovett his land, adjoining land of said Lovett and of John Hiett, Anthony
Burton, and Phineas Pemberton, containing 100 acres more or less, by
Patent recorded in the Rolls Office in Philadelphia in Book A, vol. 2, pp.
57-58. Now Jasper Terry, eldest son of the sd. Thomas Terry dec’d., and
168 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Susannah wife of the sd. Jasper, for £72 10s., do sell the said land to
John Bowne of Bristol Township, husbandman, etc., ete. Dated 22 Oct.
1714. (Signed) Jasper Terry, Susannah Terry. Witnesses: Wm. Baldwin,
Edmund Lovett, Edmund Lovett, Jr. Recorded 7 April 1715. (Deed Book
5, pp. 91-92, Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
John Bowne and Mary his wife to Edmund Lovett. John Bowne of
Bristoll Township, Bucks Co., Pa., and Mary his wife send greeting.
Whereas a certain piece of land in Bristol Township, adjoining the land
of Edmund Lovett, John Hiett, Anthony Burton & Phineas Pemberton, con-
taining 100 acres more or less; and whereas Jasper Terry of Bristol
Township did sell the sd. land to John Bowne on 22 Oct. 1714. Now the
sd. John Bowne and Mary his wife, for the consideration of £90 10s., do
sell the sd. land to Edmund Lovett, etc. ete. Dated 6 April 1722. (Signed)
John Bowne, Mary Bowne. Witnesses: Samson Cary, Solomon Warder,
Wm. Atkinson. Recorded 21 Dec. 1761. (Deed Book 10, p. 322, Bucks
County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
PROBATE RECORDS
Will of Maraaret ToDHUNTER of Westtown Township, Chester Co., Pa.,
widow of John Todhunter, dated 14 Dec. 1723. To my son John Todhunter,
£140 at age of 21, he to be brought up and educated at the charge of
Stephen Beakes. I give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter Mary,
wife of John Bowne, my set of white Curtains and one halfe of my wearing
apparel, Together with the sum of £3 currant mony of America, to be pay’d
to her by my executors within twelve months after my Decease. To my
daughter Ann, wife of Caleb Perkins, the remaining halfe of my wearing
apparel, and £3. To my son Stephen Beakes, the remainder of my estate,
and I make my son Stephen Beakes and my friend George Ashbridge
executors. Not signed. Witnesses: John Taylor, Thomas Smedley, Ben-
jamin Hickman. Memorandum: ‘‘The Testatrix above named being
Instantly seized upon by Death was the reason the above said will was not
signed as the witnesses Declared.’’ Proved 17 Dec. 1723 by the executors
named. (Probate Court, Chester County Court House, West Chester, Pa.)
Administration of the Estate of JoHn Bounp (sic.) Letters issued to
the relict Mary Bound, 1 Feb. 1725/6. Fellow-bondsmen: Thomas Watson,
Samuel Beakes. £400. (Administration Book A, p. 2, no. 235, Probate
Court, Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
Administration of the Estate of WiLt1am DoupNnry. Letters issued to
the relict Elizabeth Doudney, 28 April 1729. Fellow-bondsmen: Richard
Bidgood, William Brelsford. £150. Inventory filed 28 April 1729.
(Administration Book A, p. 3, no. 283, Probate Court, Bucks County Court
House, Doylestown, Pa.)
Will of Witt1am Brexsrorp of Middletown Township, Bucks Co., Pa.,
carpenter, dated 22 Oct. 1731. Sick of body. To dear wife Elizabeth 40s.
a year for life, and to live on my plantation with my son John, peaceably,
in satisfaction of dower. To my son John, my house and lands. To my
well-beloved [son?] Abraham Brelsford, my house and mill at Bristol. To
my son Isaac. To my daughter Lydia. Joseph Headley and John Sisom
to be executors. (Signed) William Brelsford. Witnesses: Richard Jones,
Hannah Headley, Samuel Brelsford. Proved 8 Nov. 1731.
Administration of the Estate of LANcELoT Martin. Letters issued 5
March 1739/40 to the relict Mary Martin. Fellow-bondsman: Thomas
Standsland. £700. (Administration Book A, p. 7, no. 437, Probate Court,
Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
A BOWNE PROBLEM 169
Administration of the Estate of Tuomas Dowpney late of Bristol Town-
ship, Bucks Co., yeoman. Letters issued 6 May 1748 to the relict Mary
Dowdney, and to William Bidgood of Bristol Township. Fellow-bondsmen:
William Buckley and Abraham Bowne. £260. Inventory taken by Mark
Watson and William Bidgood, 6 June 1748: £145 12s. 4d. (Administration
Book A, p. 21, no. 620, Probate Court, Bucks County Court House, Doyles-
town, Pa.)
Administration of the Estate of ELIZABETH BRELSFORD, widow, late of
Bristol Township, Bucks Co., Pa. Letters issued 8 July 1748 to Mary
Dowdney of Bristol Township, widow. Fellow-bondsmen: Einion Williams
and John Hutchinson, both of Bristol. £20. Inventory taken 8 July 1748,
exhibited 8 Aug. 1748. (Administration Book A, p. 22, no. 625, Probate
Court, Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
Will of Mary Martin of Bristol Township, Bucks Co., widow, dated
23 Aug. 1756. To my daughter, Mary Palmer, £20. My son, John Martin,
to be executor of my estate and to have the remainder. (Signed) The mark
of Mary Martin. Witnesses: George Oat, Edmund Beakes. Proved by
Edmund Beakes, 24 Sept. 1756. (Will Book 2, p. 300, Probate Court,
Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
Administration of the Estate of ABRAHAM Bowne of Bristol Township,
Bucks Co., Pa. Letters issued 8 Dec. 1760 to the relict Grace Bowne.
Fellow-bondsmen: Benjamin Swaine of Bristol Township, William Large
of Bristol Borough. £300. (Administration Book A, p. 34, no. 1056,
Probate Court, Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
Will of Bensamin Swain of Bristol Township, Bucks Co., Pa., yeoman,
dated 31 March 1791. My son David Swain and my grandson Benjamin
Swain to be executors. To my daughter Catharine Silvers, wife of James
Silvers. To my grandchildren Benjamin, Samuel, David, Jonathan, Abra-
ham, Elizabeth and Hannah Swain, children of my deceased son Abraham
Swain. Jonathan Woolston of Middletown to be the guardian of those of
my grandchildren that are minors. (Signed) Benj. Swain. Witnesses:
Isaac Watson, Thos. Watson, James Hicks. Proved 23 April 1792.
Administration of the Estate of Joun Dowpney of Bristol Borough,
Bucks Co., Pa., innkeeper. Letters issued 3 May 1796 to Sarah Dowdney,
the relict, and to David Olden. Fellow-bondsmen: Richard Bidgood and
Charles Bisonett. £5000. (Administration Book B, p. 4, no. 2643, Probate
Court, Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
ORPHANS’ COURT RECORDS
10 Sept. 1739. Petition of Abraham Bown and Thomas Dowdney and
Mary his wife on behalf of themselves and Ann Bown humbly sheweth:—
That John Bown late of the Township of Bristol in ye County of Bucks,
yeoman, deceased, father to your petitioners (the said Abraham Bown, Mary
Dowdney and Ann Bown), about ten years agoe dyed intestate being at the
time of his decease legally seised of a certain messuage & plantation scituate
in the Township of Bristol affsd. as also of a considerable personal estate,
that administration of the said decedent’s estate was committed to Mary
Bown, Relict of the said John Bown deceased, the mother of your peti-
tioners, that your petitioners’ said Mother afterward intermarried with
Lancelot Martin of the Township of Bristol affsd. And your petitioners
being humbly of the opinion that they are as well Entitled to their respec-
tive shares or proportions of the yearly profits of the said messuages and
Plantation since the decease of their said Father as to their respective
170 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
shares of the personal Estate of the said decedent, And therefore have desired
the said Administrators to accoumpt to Your Petitioners for the same, the
which they have positively refused to do.
Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that the said Administrators
may be required to lay their accoumpts of the said Administration of the
said Estate before this Court and that such Order may be taken in the
premises according to the laws of this Province as to Justice does appurtain
and your Petitioners shall ever pray &c.
Abraham Bown
Thomas Dowdney
Mary Dowdney
her
Ann A_ Bown
mark
Memoranda
Mary Bown was born the 17 of the 10th. month (Dee.) 1716.
Abraham Bown was born the 20 of the 11th. month (Jan.) 1719/20.
Ann Bown was born the 18 of the 12th. month (Feb.) 1724/5.
The Inventory of the Estate of John Bown, deceased, was taken the
27 of the 9th. month (Nov.) 1725, by Thos. Watson, Samuel Beakes, Richard
Bidgood and Samuel Bunting. It amounted to £276 1s. 11d.
Samuel Bunting was appointed guardian of Abraham Bown, 10 Dee.
1739.
Lancelot Martin, who married the widow of the deceased John Bown,
gave bonds for the payment of the childrens’ shares of the personal estate
of their said deceased father, 15 Dee. 1739.
The share of Abraham Bowne, the sd. dec’d’s son, £52 15s. 1d.
The share of Mary Dowdney, the sd. dee’d’s daughter, £26 7s. 6d.
The share of Ann Bowne, the sd. dec’d’s daughter, £26 7s. 6d.
Items of Expense:
To schoolling Ann Bown at Elizabeth Brelsford’s, £2 0s. 0d.
To dieting & keeping Abraham Bowne at Jonathan Carlile’s, £1 7s. 4d.
(Orphans’ Court Records, Case No. 63 (1739): John Bowne’s Estate.
Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
14 June 1748. Petition of Mary Dowdney of Bristol Township, Bucks
Co., Pa., widow, to administer the estate of Elizabeth Brelsford of Bristol
Township, deceased, the mother of her late husband Thomas Dowdney; and
petition of Mary Dowdney aforesaid to be appointed guardian of her two
minor children John and Sarah Dowdney. The estate of Elizabeth Brels-
ford had been inventoried at £16 12s. 6d.
Mary Dowdney and Abraham Bown appointed guardians of the said
minor children John Dowdney and Sarah Dowdney, 8 July 1748. (Orphans’
Court Records, Case No. 135 (1748): Elizabeth Brelsford’s estate. Bucks
County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
11 June 1755. Petition of Samuel Palmer of Northampton Township,
Bucks Co., Pa., yeoman, and Mary his wife late Mary Martin, one of the
daughters of Lancelot Martin late of Bristol Township, deceased. The
petitioners show that the sd. deceased died leaving a widow and four chil-
dren: James, Mary, John and Margaret. James (the eldest son) and
Margaret (the youngest daughter) both died since the death of their father,
& under age. Administration of the estate of the deceased was granted to
Mary Martin his widow, who petitioned for settlement of the estate in
September 1752. There is a Balance of £234 9s. 6d., and the Plantation.
Now Petitioners beg this to be distributed.
A BOWNE PROBLEM 171
Memorandum
Lancelot and Mary Martin’s children:
Mary, born 1 of 8th. month (Oct.) 1728.
James, born 12 of 2nd. month (April) 1732; died 24 of 9th. month ( Nov.)
1747.
Margaret, born 12 of 5th. month (July) 1734, died 25 of 9th. month
(Nov.) 1747.
John, born 14 of 9th. month (Nov.) 1738.
(Orphans’ Court Records, Case No. 162 (1755): Lancelot Martin’s
Estate. Bucks County Court House, Doylestown, Pa.)
FRIENDS’ RECORDS, FALLS MONTHLY MEETING
1704, 4th. month (June) 14: William Dowdney of Bucks Co. married to
Elizabeth Ellet, daughter of William Ellet, of Bucks Co., at the Falls
Meeting House.
1715, 6th. month (Aug.) 5: John Bowne and Mary Beakes apply for per-
mission to marry.
1715, 9th. month (Nov.) 3: John Bowne and Mary Beakes apply a second
time for permission to marry; are licensed to proceed.
1728, 3rd. month (May) 8: Lancelot Martin, of Bucks Co., and Mary
Bowne, of Bucks Co., widow, married at the Falls Meeting House.
1740, 4th. month (June) 4: Mary Dowdney condemned for marriage con-
trary to discipline.
1742, 6th. month (Aug.) 4: Thomas Dowdney condemned for marriage
contrary to discipline.
1749, 12th. month (Feb. 1749/50) 7: Abraham Boun dismissed for mar-
riage contrary to discipline.
1750, 11th. month (Jan. 1750/1) 2: Mary Dowdney reported married to
Benjamin Swaine.
1765, 5th. month (May) 15: James Moon, son of James, of Bucks Co.,
and Sarah Dowdney, daughter of late Thomas Dowdney, of Bucks
Co., married at Falls Meeting House.
1765, 6th. month (June) 5: John Dowdney dismissed for marriage out of
Meeting.
1766, 9th. month (Sept.) 3: Grace Bounds and her daughter Mary received
(into membership) by request.
PEDIGREE OF THE BOWNE FAMILY OF BUCKS CO., PA.
JoHN Bowne, a member of the Society of Friends, whose
origin and background are completely unknown, appeared in
Bristol Township, Bucks Co., Pa., in or before 1714. He pur-
chased 100 acres of land in Bristol Township from Jasper and
Susannah Terry on 22 Oct. 1714, for £72 10s. He sold the same
piece of land to Edmund Lovett on 6 April 1722, for £90 10s.
He applied to the Falls Monthly Meeting of Friends for per-
mission to marry Mary Beakes on 5 Aug. 1715; and applied for
permission a second time on 3 Nov. 1715, when the young couple
were given a license to proceed. John Bowne died shortly before
1 Feb. 1725/6, when letters of administration on his estate were
issued to his widow Mary.
Mary Brakes was born either in the Makefield District of
Falls Township (later Makefield Township), Bucks Co., Pa.,
172 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
just before 1696, or in Westtown Township, Chester Co., Pa.,
just after 1696. She was the daughter of Abraham and Mar-
garet (Hoopes) Beakes, who removed from the Makefield Dis-
trict in Bucks Co. to Westtown Township, Chester Co., in 1696.
Abraham Beakes was born at Backwell, co. Somerset, England,
14 of 3rd. month (May) 1670, son of William and Mary (Wall
or Waln) Beakes of Backwell, who came to Pennsylvania with
their son Abraham in the Bristol Merchant, arriving in the Dela-
ware River in Feb. 1682/3; and they settled in Falls Township,
Bucks Co.2, Abraham Beakes married in Falls Township Mar-
garet Hoopes, who was born about 1674. She was a daughter
of Joshua Hoopes, of Great Moorsome in the parish of Skelton-
in-Cleveland, co. York, England, by his first wife Ann. Ann
( ) Hoopes died before 1679, and Joshua Hoopes married
(2) on 1 May 1679, Isabel Joshua Hoopes, accom-
panied by his second wife Isabel, and her daughter Christian,
and by Margaret and Daniel, the children of his first marriage,
came to Pennsylvania in 1683, with a certificate of recommenda-
tion from the Monthly Meeting of Friends at Rowsby, co. York,
dated 4 of 3rd. month (May) 1683. The Hoopes family arrived
in Pennsylvania 10 of 9th. month (Nov.) 1683. Joshua Hoopes
became one of the leading men of Bucks County, and was many
times a member of the Legislative Assembly for that county.
It has several times been stated that his daughter Margaret was
the child of his second wife Isabel, but this is an error which
should be avoided by genealogists.
Abraham and Margaret (Hoopes) Beakes removed from Bucks
Co. to Chester Co. in 1696, probably soon after their marriage. .
Abraham Beakes died in Westtown Township, Chester Co.,
shortly before 3 April 1703, when letters of administration on
his estate were issued to his wife Margaret. Margaret (Hoopes)
Beakes soon remarried John Todhunter, of Westtown Township.
He died in 1715. As Margaret Todhunter, widow, she was taxed
in Chester Co., Pa., in 1715, 1718, 1719, 1720 and 1721. She
died in Westtown Township between 14 Dec. 1723 (the date of
her will) and 17 Dec. 1723 (the date of probate). The inven-
tory of her estate, taken 30 Dec. 1723, amounted to £255 10s.
Some time after Margaret (Hoopes) Beakes married John
Todhunter, her daughter, Mary Beakes, apparently unhappy
with a step-father, returned to Bucks Co. to live with her grand-
father, Joshua Hoopes, and her uncle, Samuel Beakes. That is
how Mary Beakes happened to be living in Falls Township in
1715, and that is how she met John Bowne.
It is ironical that the daughter should have repeated her
mother’s career so precisely, and that she should not have
2 Genealogical Note on the Beakes Family, Pennsylvania Magazine, vol. 30, pp. 5300-502.
A BOWNE PROBLEM 173
profited by the experiences of her own youth. After John
Bowne’s death, Mary (Beakes) Bowne remained a widow a little
over two years. Then, like her mother before her, she con-
tracted a second marriage, and, as in the previous case, the
results were unhappy. Mary (Beakes) Bowne and Lancelot
Martin were married at the Falls Meeting House in Bucks Co.
on 8 May 1728. Lancelot Martin must have been a disagreeable
man. He and his wife refused to allow Mary, Abraham and
Ann Bowne to have their rightful inheritance from the estate of
their father, John Bowne; until the defrauded heirs were com-
pelled to bring suit against the Martins in the Bucks Co.
Orphans’ Court on 10 Sept. 1739. Fortunately, the suit was
successful, and the wrong was righted by law.
Lancelot Martin died shortly before 5 March 1739/40, when
letters of administration on his estate were issued to his widow
Mary Martin. He left a good estate, consisting of a plantation ;
and there was a cash balance of £234 9s. 6d. of his estate unsettled
in 1755. Lancelot and Mary (Beakes) (Bowne) Martin had
issue :
1. Mary, b. 1 Oct. 1728, m. (1) at Falls Meeting House, Bucks Co.,
Pa., 3 of 5th. month (July) 1751 Samuel Palmer, son of John
and Ann Palmer. He was b. 28 Oct. 1723, d. 30 July 1756.
She m. (2) at Falls Meeting House 14 of 11th. month (Nov.)
1764 Solomon Hunt of Woodbridge, N. J., probably son of
Solomon and Catharine (Bishop) Hunt of Woodbridge. Mary,
wife of Solomon Hunt, and her daughter Ann Palmer, were
granted a certificate by the Falls Monthly Meeting to the
Woodbridge Monthly Meeting, 3 of 4th. month (April) 1765.
Children by first husband (surname Palmer), recorded at
Falls:
(1) Ann, b. 26 Aug. 1752.
(2) Jesse, b. 8 Feb. 1755.
2. James, b. 12 April 1732, d. 24 Nov. 1747.
3. Margaret, b. 12 July 1734, d. 25 Nov. 1747.
4. John, b. 14 Nov. 1738, perhaps was the John Martin who m. at
Falls 5 of Ist. month (Jan.) 1757 Agnes Welch.
After the death of her second husband, Lancelot Martin, Mary
(Beakes) (Bowne) Martin continued to live in Bristol Township,
Bucks Co., Pa. She died there between 23 Aug. 1756 (the date
of her will), and 24 Sept. 1756 (the date of probate). She
never forgave her Bowne children for the suit they had brought
against Lancelot Martin and herself, and she cut them off alto-
gether in her will, in which she bequeathed £20 to Mary (Martin)
Palmer, the daughter of her second marriage, and the residue
to her youngest son, John Martin, who was still a minor in 1756,
and so could not serve as executor of his mother’s estate. This
office was fulfilled, however, by Edmund Beakes, who was one
174 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
of the witnesses to the will, and who was also a first cousin of
the testatrix.
Children of John and Mary (Beakes) Bowne, born in Bristol
Township :
i, Mary, b. 17 Dec. 1716; d. in Bristol Township, probably in the
1780’s; m. (1) before 10 Sept. 1739 to THomas Dowpnery of
Bristol Township, yeoman. She was condemned by Friends for
marriage contrary to discipline on 4 June 1740, and Thomas was
likewise condemned on 4 Aug. 1742. They were probably mar-
ried by a minister, instead of by Friends’ ceremony. Thomas
Dowdney was b. in Bristol Township ca. 1710, and d. there
shortly before 6 May 1748, when letters of administration were
issued to his widow Mary Dowdney. Her brother, Abraham
Bowne, was one of the fellow-bondsmen. Thomas Dowdney was
a son of William and Elizabeth (Ellet) Dowdney of Bristol
Township, who were m. at the Falls Meeting House 14 June
1704. William Dowdney d. shortly before 28 April 1729, when
letters of administration were issued to his widow Elizabeth.
Elizabeth (Ellet) Dowdney m. (2) in 1729 or 1720 William
Brelsford of Middletown Township, Bucks Co., who 4d. soon,
between 22 Oct. 1731 (the date of his will) and 8 Nov. 173)
(the date of probate). Elizabeth (Ellet) (Dowdney) Brelsford
continued to dwell in Bristol Township, where she seems to have
kept a sort of school around 1739. Ann Bowne (see below) was
sent to her for ‘‘schoolling,’’ which was, however, rather unsue-
cessful, since Ann Bowne, though aged 14, had to ‘‘make her
mark’’ in signing the petition of 10 Sept. 1739. Elizabeth
(Ellet) (Dowdney) Brelsford was b. at Stoke St. Gregory, co.
Somerset, England, 12 April 1683, daughter of William and Mary
(Burt) Ellet. She died in Bristol Township, Bucks Co., Pa.,
shortly before 14 June 1748, when her daughter-in-law, Mary
(Bowne) Dowdney petitioned for letters of administration on
her estate. The letters were issued 8 July 1748.
Mary (Bowne) Dowdney m. (2) before 2 Jan. 1750/1 BEn-
JAMIN SWAIN or SwalIneE of Bristol Township, yeoman, who was
b. at Nantucket, Mass. He was a widower, and all the children
named in his will appear to have been by his first wife. Ben-
jamin Swain removed from Nantucket to the district of the
Shrewsbury Monthly Meeting of Friends in New Jersey, and
from there he removed to the neighborhood of Burlington, N. J.,
with a certificate to the Burlington Monthly Meeting dated 5
Nov. 1750. The Burlington Monthly Meeting granted him a
certificate on 3 Dec. 1750 to go to Falls to marry, and he m.
Mary (Bowne) Dowdney between that date and 2 Jan. 1750/1.
She was given a certificate by Falls Monthly Meeting on 7 Aug.
1751, and this was received by the Burlington Monthly Meeting
on 2 Sept. 1751. Benjamin and Mary lived in the neighborhood
of Burlington for two years, then they were granted a certificate
to the Chesterfield Monthly Meeting in N. J. on 4 June 1753.
They returned to Bristol Township, Pa., before 1760, however,
and there Mary and Benjamin Swain both died. The latter d.
between 31 March 1791 (the date of his will) and 23 April 1792
(the date of probate).
Children of Mary Bowne by her first husband, Thomas Dowd-
ney (surname Dowdney), born in Bristol Township:
A BOWNE PROBLEM 175
1, John, b. perhaps in 1740, d. in Bristol, Pa., shortly before
3 May 1796, when letters of administration on his estate
were issued. He was an innkeeper, and a wealthy man.
He had a license to operate the ‘‘King of Prussia’’
Tavern at the corner of Mill and Pond Streets, Bristol,
Pa., as early as 1768. He was a burgess of Bristol in
1784-5. Hem. (1) by license dated 11 Feb. 1765 (N. J.
Marriage Licenses) Mary Priestly of Bristol. The mar-
riage was not performed according to Quaker regula-
tions, and John Dowdney was dismissed from the Soci-
ety of Friends, 5 June 1765. Mary (Priestly) Dowdney
d., and he m. (2) Sarah , who survived him, and
was administratrix of his estate.
2. Sarah, b. 14 July 1741; d. at the inn kept by her son-in-
law, John Thornton, in Lower Dublin Township, Phila-
delphia Co., Pa., 22 Sept. 1822. She m. at Falls Meet-
ing House, Bucks Co., Pa., 15 May 1765, James Moon,
Jr., son of James and Hannah (Price) Moon, of Falls
Township, Bucks Co. He was b. in Falls Township
7 Aug. 1738, and resided there till his marriage. He
and Sarah then removed to a farm in Lower Makefield
Township, Bucks Co., where he lived until his death,
15 March 1796. James Moon, Jr., left a will, dated
12 Nov. 1789, proved 9 April 1796 (Will Book 5, p. 487,
Bucks Co. Court House). Sarah (Dowdney) Moon,
unlike nearly all her female ancestors, did not remarry
after becoming a widow. She lived happily with the
family of her son-in-law and daughter, John and Mary
(Moon) Thornton, and she took care of their enormous
family of 16 children after Mary (Moon) Thornton d.,
14 Aug. 1814. Sarah (Dowdney) Moon’s will, dated
10 Aug. 1818, and proved 4 Aug. 1825, mentioned all
the said 16 grandchildren (Will Book 10, p. 385, Bucks
Co. Court House).*
ii. ABRAHAM, b. 20 Jan. 1719/20; d. in Bristol Township, Bucks Co.,
Pa., shortly before 8 Dec. 1760, when letters of administration
on his estate were issued to his widow Grace. Benjamin Swaine,
his sister Mary’s second husband, was one of the fellow-bonds-
men. Abraham Bowne, though a minor, was one of the peti-
tioners in the petition against the Martins, 10 Sept. 1739. Sam-
uel Bunting was appointed his guardian, 10 Dee. 1739, and at
that period he evidently lived at Jonathan Carlile’s house.
Abraham Bowne and his sister Mary (Bowne) Dowdney were
appointed joint guardians of the Dowdney children, 8 July
1748. Abraham Bowne was m. by license dated 1 Nov. 1749
(N. J. Marriage Licenses) to Grace Jones of Bucks Co., Pa.
This marriage was not performed according to Quaker rules,
and Abraham was therefore dismissed from the Society of
Friends, 7 Feb. 1749/50. Abraham and Grace (Jones) Bowne
had at least one child, Anne Bowne, who m. by license dated
6 June 1771 (N. J. Marriage Licenses) Jonathan Butcher of
Middletown Township, Bucks Co. Jonathan and Anne (Bowne)
Butcher had two children, Jonathan and Mary, who were b. at
Middletown between 1771 and 1774. Jonathan and Anne
Butcher, and their children Jonathan and Mary, received a cer-
tificate dated 1 June 1774 from the Middletown Monthly Meeting
3 For the Moon family, see W. H. H. Davis, History of Bucks Co., Pa., 2nd. ed., by Ely
and Jordan, vol. 3, p. 212. For the Thornton family see THe American GENEALOGIST, vol.
15, pp. 156-160.
176 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
to the Falls Monthly Meeting in Bucks Co. The Butchers seem
to have removed about 1786 to Fairfax Co., Va.
iii. ANN, b. 18 Feb. 1724/5. She was supposedly being ‘‘schoolled’’
by Elizabeth (Ellet) (Dowdney) Brelsford in 1739, but the
‘*schoolling’’ was not very successful, since Ann had to ‘‘make
her mark’’ in signing the petition of 10 Sept. 1739. Her subse-
quent history is unknown.
NOTES
Michael Shinnick, His Family and His Descendants
[THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST, vol. 17, pp. 79-86]
Since writing the above article two deeds have come to the
writer’s attention that cast a little more light on this family.
By deed of 3 Aug. 1785, Michael Sheneck, of Northern Liberties, cord-
wainer, and Catharine his wife, sold to Conrad Seiffert for the sum of £500
a property including a brick messuage and plot of ground situated on
Second St., 29’ 4” front, and 230’ deep, bounded east by Second St., West
by St. Johns St., north by Coates St. and south by property of Amos
Wheten. The deed recites that Michael purchased this property from
Andrew Day and Christina his wife, of Northern Liberties, by indenture
dated 31 Mar. 1774, to be paid for out of a yearly rental of £8 14s, payable
June 1st to Bowyer Brooke, until principle sum of £174 was paid. The
deed is signed by Michael Sheneck and by mark of his wife Catherine.
(Philadelphia, Pa., Deeds, Book D 23, page 478.)
By deed of Mar. 1799, Adam Schenick of Northern Liberties, painter and
glazier, sold to Lewis Benner of Baltimore, his (Adam’s) share in his
grandfather Holt’s estate. John Adam Holt’s will, dated 7 Sept. 1785 is
cited, showing how property in Oxford, amounting to about 193 acres, goes
to the widow Maria Christina for her life, and at her death to daughter
Catherine Schenick. One third the income to be used for fencing and main-
tenance, and the remainder to Catherine. At her death to be divided evenly
amoung the grandchildren, except that Michael Cooper (alias Keifer) is to
get two shares. Catherine has died, and the widow is still alive. There
are still living seven grandchildren, which the deed lists as follows: Michael
Cooper (alias Keifer, only issue of testator’s daughter Elisabeth Cooper,
deceased), Mary Benner, Adam Schenick, Elizabeth Dorr, Jacob Schenick,
Sophia Schenick, Barbara Schenick, six children of testator’s daughter
Catherine Schenick deceased, so real estate will be divided into 8 shares
and Adam, by this deed, sells his expected one eighth part to Louis Benner
for ‘‘$500 lawful silver.’’ Benner has the right to receive the property and
any rental from the property.
Besides giving the occupations of these two men, we learn
from the deeds the name of Adam Holt’s daughter who married
a Cooper (page 82), and the fact that Elizabeth Schenick Lex
married a second time, to a man named Dorr.
—Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr.
NOTES 177
‘One Branch of the Rhode Island Wilcox Family
[THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST, vol. 19, pp. 23-31]
Lemuel® Wilcox (No. 5, viii, p. 30) died 19 Jan. 1726/7.
The will of Stephen® Wilcox (No. 6, p. 30) also names his sons
‘*‘Samuel’’ and ‘‘Jirey.’’
Culbut® Wilcox (No. 7, pp. 30-31) witnessed a deed of land in
Palmyra, N. Y., of his son William in 1805 (recorded 1833).
His son William’ married Ruth Durfee. (Letter to the author
from Miss Mary A. Moulthrop of Rochester, N. Y., 5 Aug. 1942.)
—G. Andrews Moriarty.
Tucker, New Hampshire
‘*Sandown January 20° 1769, this day Reced of our Brother
Joseph Tucker, each of our Suits of Mourning given to us by
our Honoured Father Tucker in his last will we Say Reed us
Ephraim Webster Phebe Webster
Benjamin Colbey Sarah Rowell
John Sleeper Betty Colby
George Start Hannah Sleeper
Mary Start”’
Recorded 14 May 1773. (Hillsborough Deeds, 2: 278.)
—Winifred Lovering-Holman.
Long, Newbury, Mass.
‘‘This made Betwen Robert Long Dweling in Newberay The
County of Essex .... And his Son Abiell Long The other party
Dweling in That Town’’ whereby the latter resigns to the former
an acre of land next ‘‘Leftenant Tristrom Cofen’’ that he pur-
chased of John Webster and the former, Robert Long, confirms
to his son an acre of land less 23 rods next to his own, i.e. the
grantor’s land; dated 1 Nov. 1684. Signed Robert Long (auto-
graph) ; witnessed by ‘‘ Tristram Coffin’’ and ‘‘Timothy Mireck.’’
(From the original unrecorded deed now in possession of C. D.
Stillman, Esq., of New York City.)
—Winifred Lovering-Holman.
Pittman-Dennis, Manchester, Mass.
Thomas Pittman, of Manchester, Mass., mariner, by a power
of attorney from Laurance Dennis of South Carolina and in
right of his wife, Sarah Pittman alias Dennis, sister of the said
Laurance Dennis, and daughter of Laurence Dennis, late of New
England, for £20 given him by Benjamin Lynde, of Salem, Mass.,
178 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
conveys to said Lynde, land in Kennebek in the bounds of New
Town called Negansett or Garden Point, 203 acres, granted by
John Palmer to said Laurence Dennis, 8 Sept. 1686, also 40 acres
of land laid out by the town; wife Sarah Pittman releases her
dower rights; dated 14 Apr. 1729 and recorded that year; both
sign; witnessed by Philip English Jr., and Samuel ‘‘Gabtman.’’
(Essex County, Mass., Deeds, 52: 44.)
—Winifred Lovering-Holman.
‘Early Ingraham Families of New England
[THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST, vol. 19, p. 86]
John? Ingraham, born at Boston, Mass., 3 Jan. 1679/80, settled
in Saybrook, Conn., and died by 1750. He had two more sons
than birth records revealed, shown by a partition of lands made
by his heirs. On 9 Aug. 1750, John Ingraham of New Haven,
Isaac Ingraham of Branford, Benjamin Ingraham, James
Ingraham, Sam" Ingraham, Daniel Ingraham, and Sam" Dunk
and Sarah his wife, all of Saybrook, ‘‘children & heirs to all the
Estates of our Hon* Father M* John Ingraham late of s* Say-
brook Deceased’’ partitioned (Saybrook Land Records, vol. 8,
pp. 266-269). We therefore restate the children of John and
Sarah (Smith) Ingraham:
1. Saraw’, b. 20 July 1702; d. young.
2. JOHN, b. 23 Jan. 1704/5; d. at New Haven, Conn., in 1754; m. 12
Apr. 1725, Lydia Bruce.
3. BENJAMIN, b. 13 Apr. 1707.
4. Sarau, b. 14 Feb. 1708/9; m. 22 June 1729, Samuel Dunk.
5. Isaac, b. ; m. 15 Apr. 1736,
Hannah (Hickox) (Williams) Bartholomew, b. at Waterbury,
Conn., 21 Apr. 1699, widow of Samuel Williams of Wallingford and
William Bartholomew of Branford. On 11 Oct. 1737, ‘‘Isaae
Ingerham’’ appeared in behalf of wife Hannah, late widow of
William Bartholomew late of Branford deceased. [Guilford Pro-
bate Records, vol. 3, p. 274; New Haven Gen, Mag., 8—1978;
Bartholomew Genealogy (1885), p. 85.}
6. JAMES.
7. SAMUEL, b. 25 July 1717.
8. DANIEL, b. 31 July 1720.
—Donald Lines Jacobus.
QUERIES AND ANSWERS
Edited by Partie M. Sirs, B.A., of Washington, D. C.
NOTICE
With regret it is announced that the Query Department, as well as Book
Reviews, will be discontinued in the coming volume, Mr. Smith remaining on
the staff as a Contributing Editor. Answers received will be forwarded to
querists.
There are two reasons for this change. Technical difficulties in preparing
the make-up of the magazine, caused by having to reserve an unknown
amount of space for these two departments until near the time of publica-
tion, have been increased by changes in the printing establishment due to
the war. It is also felt that, the future being uncertain, our space should
be devoted entirely at present to the records and valuable articles that are
awaiting publication.
QUERIES
187. BOYD. Who was the Timothy Boyd who was in Unity,
N. H., or Pomfret, Vt.? Who was his wife?—C. K. 8.
188. (a) SATTERLEE. Was William Satterlee, a pro-
prietor of Brookhaven, L. I., brother of Benedict Satterlee who
settled in New London, Conn.; was William the father of
Deborah, b. about 1676, who m. Capt. James Reeve, of Southold,
L. I.?
(b) TUSTEN. Wanted: Name and ancestry of the wife of
Thomas Tusten, b. 1680, d. Feb. 6, 1736, of Southold, L. L.
(ec) STRONG. Wanted: Name and ancestry of the wife of
Benjamin Strong, b. May 12, 1722, son of Selah Strong, Setauket
(Brookhaven), N. Y.; d. Blooming Grove, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1760.
(d) HUDSON. Wanted, ancestry of Robert Hudson and of
his wife, name unknown. He was justice of East Hampton, L. L.,
and his will was approved April 2, 1724.—Mrs. J. E. M.
189. (a) HICKOK. Wanted: Names and data of the bal-
ance of the twelve children of Benjamin and Huldah (Holmes)
Hickok, of Guilford, East Haddam, Conn., and Conway, Mass.
Known children are Benjamin, Huldah, Elephalet, Damaris,
Joseph, Henry, Charlotte and Clarissa, born 1762-1790.
(b) HICKOK. Who was Benjamin Hickok who m. Sarah
St. John, b. about 1757; d. Branford, Conn., Apr. 28, 1815;
dau. of Peter and Mary (Cook) St. John. They had children
William; Harvey, bapt. New Haven, June 27, 1779; George,
bapt. there May 21, 1784.—C. N. H.
190. (a) FIELD-SOUTH. Wanted: Parentage of Joseph
Fields (1788-1844) and of his wife Rebecca South (1793-1862),
resided Sussex Co., N. J. Children: Harvey, Lydia, Permilia,
Phebe, John Roy, Caroline, Philip Dyer, Joseph Roy, Henry D.,
180 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Catherine, Mary. Was Joseph related to the Somerset Co, Field
family?
(b) HARVEY. Wanted: Parentage of Abigail Harvey, b.
Dighton, Mass., Oct. 15, 1753; m. 1776, Joseph Reed, Jr. Chil-
dren: Ephraim, Elizabeth, Abigail, Lydia, Joseph, Rhoda, Sally.
Was she dau. of Ephraim and Lydia (Lincoln) Harvey?
(ec) HUNTER-ALLEN. Who was Polly Hunter, b. abt.
1790, N. Y. State; m. Joseph Allen; resided Saratoga and Liv-
ingston Cos. Children: Silvia, Betsey, Sarah, Morgan, Fanny,
Jonathan, Norris, Mary, Millicent. Polly had uncle, Joseph
Hunter, and half-brothers, Allen and Philander.—. A. M. R.
QUERY WITH REWARD
PURDY—MEAD. Will pay ten dollars to first person fur-
nishing information leading to proof of parentage of MARY
WARING PURDY born 1794; married New York City in 1816
as second wife of Amos Mead of Greenwich, Conn., where she
lived on North Street until she died 1832. Buried Union Ceme-
tery, Greenwich.—@. L. H.
BOOK REVIEWS
Edited by Gitpert H. Doane, B.A., of Madison, Wis.
Nore: Book reviews will be discontinued in the coming volume for the
duration of the war, Mr. Doane remaining on the staff as a Contributing
Editor. The reasons for this decision are stated herein under the heading,
‘*Queries and Answers.’’
Magna Carta, by John 8. Wurts, Brookfield Pub. Co., New York City.
This appears to be the latest publication of a series commenced
more than fifty years ago by the late Charles Henry Browning
giving the pedigrees of ‘‘ Americans of Royal Descent,’’ in which
the tycoons at the turn of the century were wont to have recorded
their alleged descents from the medieval royalty and baronage.
Mr. Browning’s mantle has, apparently, fallen upon the
shoulders of Mr. Wurts. When one considers the utter lack of
accuracy, scholarship and knowledge evinced by the late Mr.
Browning in his various publications, it was to be hoped that
Mr. Wurts would change all this, but apparently such hopes are
doomed to disappointment.
The book is divided into four sections, the first being some
general statements regarding the Great Charter under the head-
ing ‘‘The Romance of the Great Charter’’—matter which is well
known to any well informed schoolboy. The second part consists
BOOK REVIEWS 181
of biographies of the twenty-five surety barons, together with
their pedigrees and a list of present day persons who, according
to Mr. Wurts, are descended from them. The third part is a
medley of descents from Queen Boadicea, St. Helena, the
Emperor Constantine, Irish and Frankish Kings, medizval kings,
and the like. There is also a long dissertation upon the Druids.
This third part need not detain us beyond remarking that these
descents are the purest moonshine, consisting of totally unreli-
able Keltic pedigrees and the wild romancings of Renaissance
genealogists. The fourth part consists of a list of the original
Knights of the Garter, with a brief account of each. There is a
formidable bibliography, from which, however, one misses such
indispensable books as Dr. Round’s ‘‘ Feudal England,’’ ‘‘ Peer-
age and Pedigree,’’ ‘‘ Peerage and Family History,’’ and ‘‘ Fam-
ily Origins,’’ and Dr. Farrer’s ‘‘ Honors and Knights Fees’’ and
‘*Yorkshire Charters,’’ as well as many other authoritative
works.
As the principal part of the book is the second division, con-
taining the biographies and ancestry of the surety barons and
their descendants, it is proposed to confine the present review to
this section. With respect to the long lists of present-day per-
sons, who are said to descend from the various barons, it may
be remarked that no pedigrees are given or proof of these
descents offered. All that we have is Mr. Wurts’ say-so to bridge
a gap of some seven hundred years. Such assertions, until
details and evidences are forthcoming, have no probative value
and cannot be considered seriously by scholarly genealogists.
We now turn to the ancestries of the surety barons, as set forth
under each, and quickly discover numerous errors. It is pro-
posed to take several of the pedigrees and analyze them.
The first pedigree given (p. 39) is that of William d’Aubigny
of Belvoir, whom Mr. Wurts still calls ‘‘ Albini’’ in the barbarous
half-Latin, half-English, jargon of the seventeenth century anti-
quaries, which has been disearded by scholars of to-day. The
pedigree commences with Robert de Todenei, who is described
as the standard bearer of the Conqueror. This is of course an
error, as the standard bearer was his kinsman Ralf de Toéni or
de Conches, the head of the great house of Malahue (Dugdale’s
Baronage I, 469). His son, we are told, was William d’Albini
Brito, who died about 1155, having married Maud, daughter of
Simon de St. Liz. It is quite evident that Mr. Wurts has not
studied the elaborate and fully documented note upon this family
in Dr. Farrer’s ‘‘Early Yorkshire Charters’’ (Vol. I, p. 461,
cf. also Vol. II, p. 483) or the article in the New Complete Peer-
age (Vol. LX, pp. 577-78 and note c). Had he done so, he
would have learned that Robert de Todenei had five children,
viz.: 1. Berenger, the Domesday tenant of North Dalton, who
182 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
died s. p. before 1116; 2. William, the lord of Belvoir, who died
s. p.; 3. Geoffrey, who died s. p.; 4. Agnes, who married Hubert
de Ryes ; and 5. Adeliz, the second wife of Roger Bigod (d. 1107).
Roger and Adeliz had Hugh (d. shortly before 9 March 1176/7),
who became Earl of Norfolk in 1141, succeeding his elder, pre-
sumably his half, brother, William in 1119. They had also a
daughter Cecily, called ‘‘de Belvoir,’’ who inherited her mother’s
fee. She married William d’Aubigny Brito, who occurs 1124-29
and in the Pipe Roll of 31 Henry I; he was a Justice Itinerant.
William and Cecily were the parents of William d’Aubigny II
of Belvoir, who occurs in the great return of 12 Henry II and
who died in 1167. He married Maud de ‘‘St. Liz,’’ daughter of
Robert Fitz Richard, of the Fitz Walter branch of the de Clares,
who took the name of St. Liz from her mother’s family, her
mother having been Maud, daughter of Simon, Earl of Hunting-
don. William and Cecily had also Robert, styled ‘‘de Toteneia,’’
Roger, Eudes, and Ralf d’Aubigny, who died at the siege of
Acre in 1191, leaving three daughters (cf. also Hist. Manuscripts
Comm., Duke of Rutland’s MSS., IV, 106).
We next consider Mr. Wurts’s account of Roger le Bigod,
Earl of Norfolk, and his ancestors (p. 43). Mr. Wurts tells us
that the wife of the first Roger of Domesday was a daughter of
the famous Hugh de Grantmesnil, but by reference to the
account of the Earldom of Norfolk in the N. C. P. (Vol. IX, p.
577) we learn that his first wife was ‘‘ Adelidis, whose parentage
is unknown.’’ His second wife, as stated above, was ‘‘ Adelicia,
sister and co-heiress of William de Tosney, Lord of Belvoir and
daughter of Robert de Tosney, Lord of Belvoir.’’ We are also
told that this Roger founded the ‘‘ Abbey of Whetford’’ in Nor-
folk in 1103, but as no such abbey exists this undoubtedly refers
to Roger’s foundation of the Priory of Thetford in that year.
(ib.; ef. Dugdale’s Baronage, I, 132). On page 44 we are told
that Roger, Earl of Norfolk, the Surety, married as his first
wife Isabel, daughter of Hameline Plantagenet (the bastard of
Count Geoffrey of Anjou) but reference to the New Complete
Peerage (Vol. cit., p. 589) shows that he had but one wife, ‘‘Ida,
whose parentage is unknown.’’ On page 47 we learn that Hugh
Bigod, the Chief Justiciar, brother of Roger and son of Hugh,
another of the Sureties, married first Joan, daughter of Robert
Burnet and had Roger and John. Again referring to the New
Complete Peerage (Vol. cit., p. 593), we find that the wife of the
Justiciar was Joan, widow of Hugh Wake (d. 1241) and
daughter and heiress of Nicholas de Stuteville.
Turning now to the family of Robert de Vere (p. 127 et seq.)
we find that the de Veres were ‘‘the noblest family in England—
and indeed in all Europe’’ and ‘‘that they derive their title from
a time when the Nevilles and Percys enjoyed only a local celeb-
BOOK REVIEWS 183
rity.’” Now the greatness of the de Veres will not be denied
by any student of English history, but it should be noted that
the founder of the family in England, the first Aubrey, while an
important tenant in capite in Domesday, did not rank among the
foremost magnates such as William Fitz Osborn, Richard de
Bienfaite, Hugh Lupus and Roger de Montgomery. Their
importance commenced with Aubrey II (killed in 1141), the
Great Chamberlain and favorite of Henry I, whose son
Aubrey III was created Earl of Oxford in 1147. The latter
greatly increased his importance through his connection with and
adherence to the redoubtable Geoffrey de Mandeville. Contem-
porary with this Aubrey was Jocelyn de Louvain, half-brother
of Queen Adeliza, who was the ancestor of the Percys. He was
a very important magnate and, as son of Duke Godfrey of Lower
Lorraine and Count of Louvain, aithough probably born on the
left side of the blanket, he descended in the male line from the
great race of the Regniers (founders of the House of Brabant),
and in the female line from Charles, Duke of Lorraine, the last
of the French Karolings ; consequently, his family ranked among
the most illustrious of Europe at this period. So the Percys
were, at this period, far more important than the de Veres. On
page 128 it appears that the earliest named ancestor of the
de Veres was ‘‘ Alfonso, Count of Ghesnes, who was the father of
Alberie de Vere, Count Aubrey ‘Sanglier,’ married before 1139
Beatrix de Ghent daughter of Henry and his wife Sibylla,’’ and
they had, according to Mr. Wurts, a son Alberie de Vere, who
died in 1088. ‘‘He, being in high favor with King Henry I,
was constituted great high chamberlain of the Kingdom in 1133,
to hold the same in fee to himself and his heirs. In 5 Stephen,
1140, while a joint sheriff of several counties, with Richard
Basset, Justiciary of England, he was slain in a popular tumult
at London.’’ Comment upon this is needless, how could a man
who died in 1088 be Great Chamberlain in 1133 and be slain
again in 1140! Further, any one who is familiar with the
pedigree of the Counts of Guisnes will know the impossibility of
this descent.
The true facts of the early pedigree of the great house of
de Vere are as follows: Aubrey, who is said to have been the son
of another of the same name (cf. Crispin’s Falaise Roll, p. 117),
came from Ver, in the canton of Gavray, arrond. of Coutances
(Dupont, ‘‘Recherches’’ &c., Vol. I, p. 102). He was an impor-
tant tenant in capite in East Anglia at Domesday, the caput of
his barony being Headingham in Essex. He occurs in the
Abingdon Chartulary about 1105 as a benefactor of that Abbey.
His wife was named Beatrice. Their son, Aubrey II, was a
favorite of Henry I, who made him Great Chamberlain. He was
slain on 9 May 1141 in a popular tumult, which occurred during
184 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
the anarchy, which prevailed during the civil war between
Stephen and the Empress (cf. Round’s ‘‘Geoffrey de Mande-
ville,’’ p. 81). He married Adeliza, daughter of Gilbert de
Tonbridge (de Clare), the head of the great house of de Clare
(Round’s ‘‘Feudal England,’’ p. 575). Their daughter,
Rohese, married first Geoffrey de Mandeville, the great earl of
Essex, and her brother, Aubrey III, profited greatly from this
connection. Aubrey III was Justiciar of England and in 1147
was created Earl of Oxford, and he inherited from his father
the office of Great Chamberlain. Aubrey III married as his
first wife Beatrice, daughter of Henry, Castellan of Bourbourg,
who was the heiress of her maternal grandfather, Manasser,
Count of Guisnes, from whom he was divorced in 1144. The
ancestry of Beatrice is given in Round’s ‘‘Geoffrey de Mande-
ville’? (p. 397). Aubrey, for a short time, held the title of
Count of Guisnes jure uxoris (ib., pp. 188-89; cf. also p. 392).
On page 71 we have an account of John Fitz Robert of Wark-
worth and of his ancestry. This John was the ancestor of the
Claverings. His ancestry offers one of the most confused and
difficult problems of twelfth century genealogy, and it has been
considered by three of our greatest medievalists, Dr. Round, Dr.
Farrer and Geoffrey White, the latter now one of the collabor-
ators of the New Complete Peerage. There is no difficulty with
his father Robert Fitz Roger or his grandfather, Roger Fitz
Richard of Warkworth. The difficulty is with the parentage of
the latter. Roger Fitz Richard was a minor baron of Henry II,
who enfeoffed him with Warkworth shortly after the defeat of
the royal army by the Welsh at Coleshill in 1157, for his brave
conduct on that occasion. Mr. Wurts, following Dugdale, makes
him the son of Richard Fitz Eustace, but this is just where the
difficulty lies. Round, Farrer and Geoffrey White have all
pointed out that this is extremely unlikely if not impossible. In
order to grasp the difficulty it is necessary to consider the family
of Eustace Fitz John, the great Northern baron of the time of
Henry I and Henry II. This Eustace fell, when an elderly man,
in the defeat at Coleshill in 1157, a defeat largely brought about
by the cowardice of the royal standard bearer, Henry de Essex.
Eustace was the son of John Fitz Richard styled ‘‘Monoeulus’’
or ‘‘the one eyed’’ (Dugdale’s Baronage, I, 90) of Saxlingham,
whose brother Serlo de Burgh or de Pembroke was lord of
Knaresborough. (It may here be observed that the ancestry
given by Mr. Wurts to Serlo and John has no basis in fact.)
Eustace had two wives. His first wife was Beatrice, daughter
and eventual heiress of Ives de Vesci, the lord of Alnwick in
Northumberland, by whom he had a son, William de Vesci, Lord
of Alnwick (d. 1184), the ancestor of the later Vescis, who
became extinct at the beginning of the fourteenth century. His
BOOK REVIEWS 185
second wife was Agnes, daughter and heiress of William Fitz
Neel of Halton, Constable of Chester, a Domesday tenant, under
Hugh Lupus. By Agnes, Eustace was the father of Richard
Fitz Eustace (d. —1163), who married (as her first husband)
Aubreye de Lisours, daughter and heiress of Robert de Lisours
by Aubreye, daughter of Robert de Lacy and heiress of her
nephew Robert de Lacy, who died s.p. in 1193. (Farrer’s
‘*Karly Yorkshire Charters,’’ Vol. III, p. 199; New Complete
Peerage, Vol. VII, p. 677.) It should here be noted that in the
chart given in the New Complete Peerage he is called Robert
Fitz Eustace instead of Richard Fitz Eustace. However, a
charter whereby ‘‘Agnes, daughter of William Constable of
Chester,’’ who describes herself as the wife (widow) of Eustace,
gave the monks of Watton the entire vill there for the souls of
‘‘my son Richard and of Geoffrey’’ ete. (Mon. Ang., old ed.,
Vol. Il, p. 799), would seem to indicate that his name was
Richard, as it is usually given, and not Robert. Richard and
Aubreye were the parents of John the Constable of Chester,
whose son Roger, also Constable, assumed the name of de Lacy,
when he became the heir of his grandmother, Aubreye de Lisours,
who had inherited the Lacy fees from her mother. Roger was
the ancestor of the Pontefract Lacys, Constables of Chester and
Earls of Lincoln. John the Constable, son of Richard Fitz
Eustace and Aubreye de Lisours, married Alice ‘‘de Vere,’’ whose
mother, called Alice de Essex, was the daughter of Aubrey de
Vere II, the first Great Chamberlain. Alice de Essex is the
subject of a special monograph by Dr. Round (Essex Arch. Soc.
Trans., n.s., Vol. III, p. 242). She had several husbands; the
first was William de Sackville, the second Robert de Essex, and
the third our Roger Fitz Richard of Warkworth, the grandfather
of John Fitz Robert, the Surety. There is some disagreement
as to which of the husbands of Alice de Essex was the father of
Alice de Vere, the wife of John the Constable. Dr. Farrer
believed that she was the daughter of Robert de Essex, but
Dr. Round and Mr. White have adduced very weighty reasons
for considering her the daughter of Roger Fitz Richard. (Essex
Arch. Soc. Trans., op. cit.; ‘‘Vere, Sackville and Laecy,’’ by
Geoffrey White in The Genealogists’ Magazine, Vol. VII, pp.
469-73 ; cf. also Early Yorkshire Charters, Vol. III, p. 199). If,
as seems most likely, she was the daughter of Roger Fitz Richard,
then obviously the latter cannot have been the son of Richard
Fitz Eustace, for in that case we should have John the Constable
marrying his own niece, and in any event chronological consider-
ations make it very unlikely that John the Constable and Roger
Fitz Richard were brothers. The male line, then, of the Surety
Baron, John Fitz Robert, cannot be carried beyond his grand-
father Roger Fitz Richard.
186 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
In the story of the Great Charter the most important figure is
that of Robert Fitz Walter, ‘‘the Marshal of the Army of God,”’
who was the leader of the combination which extorted it from
John. Robert was the head of a cadet branch of the de Clares,
whose grandfather Robert Fitz Richard was a younger son of
Richard Fitz Gilbert, the head of the house of Clare. On page
76 Mr. Wurts tells us that this Robert Richard married Maud,
‘‘Lady of Bradham.’’ This statement, derived from the Dun-
mow Chronicle, is quite correct, but he should have added that
she was the daughter of Simon de St. Liz, Earl of Huntingdon,
by Maud, daughter of the Countess Judith (N. C. P., Vol. V, p.
472 n). Earl Simon gave his daughter Daventry as a mari-
tagium, and it descended to her son Walter Fitz Robert and from
him to Robert Fitz Walter, the Surety (Farrer’s Honors and
Knights Fees, Vol. Il, p. 395 et seq.). The second wife of
Walter Fitz Robert (father of the Surety) was the widow of
Henry d’Oilli and the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun (Round
in Essex Arch. Soc. Trans., n.s., Vol. VII, pp. 329-30; Essex
Fines, pp. 474-75, 575).
The above are examples of the errors and omissions to be
found scattered through the pedigrees of the Surety Barons.
This does not mean that much of the genealogy is not correct,
but it serves to show that each of the pedigrees should not be
accepted as correct until it has been carefully checked.
The book is illustrated by several photographs and woodcuts.
The best of these are the photographs of the Great Charter, Mr.
Browning and Mr. Wurts. Among the numerous woodcuts are
Queen Boadicea exhorting the Britons to fall upon the legions,
King Alfred minding the Cakes, and totally imaginary portraits
of Pepin le Bref, Charlemagne and Hildegarde, Hugh Capet,
the Conqueror, and so on. To judge from the past, the book
will doubtless find a ready sale among the uninformed public,
panting for baronial and royal ancestry.
—G. Andrews Moriarty, A.M., LL.B., FSA.
The Lott Family in America. By A. V. Phillips. 1942. Lithoprinted,
179 pp., cloth bound (8 1/4 x 11 in.). Tlustrated; full name index. $3.00,
sold by Traver’s Book Store, Trenton, N. J.
This is the history of a Long Island family, with branches in
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, and _ including
descendants through female lines named Cassell, Davis, Gray-
beal, Haring, Hegeman, Hogg, Kerley, Phillips, Thompson, and
Walter. The wife of the late Chauncey M. Depew was of this
lineage.
The genealogy is based on original research, for which Dr.
Robert Furman of New York deserves much of the credit. The
book is a careful piece of work, quoting reliable evidence and dis-
earding old errors. It is well worth the moderate price.—D. T.. J.
BOOK REVIEWS 187
Ancestry of Rufus K. Dryer with notes on William Dryer of Rehoboth
and some of his descendants, By Joseph F. Dryer. 280 pp., cloth bound
(6 x29 1/4 in.). Illustrated; folding chart in back cover. Edition limited
to 200 numbered copies. $10.00, sold by the author, 685 Mount Hope
Ave., Rochester, N. Y.
Primarily a story of the Dryer family, informally and
attractively presented, with family pictures and old letters and
Bible records, it also includes (pp. 110-130) most valuable
transcripts of English records pertaining to the Dryer family
and (pp. 131-153) a listing of the descendants of William
Dryer of Rehoboth, Mass. The second section of the book,
about 120 pages, is devoted to other ancestral families, mainly
of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The most serious defect of
the book is the lack of an index.
There is much of interest in the accounts of the allied families,
some of which are families or branches of families not adequately
represented in printed genealogies heretofore. With one theory
which the author appears to favor, the reviewer finds himself
at odds. This is a claim that Francis Bradley of Fairfield was
a son of Rev. Thomas Bradley, D.D., of Ackworth, Yorkshire,
by his wife Frances Savile, daughter of John, Lord Savile. The
mere fact that Francis Bradley appears often in the records
undignified by the ‘‘Mr.’’ accorded to men of ‘‘gentle birth’’ is
sufficient to cast suspicion upon this theory. It is also nega-
tived by the appointment of the son Francis as executor of the
will of Dr. Bradley, an utterly impractical procedure in those
days if the son in question were in the then distant American
colonies.
But the positive disproof is found in the letter addressed to
Francis Bradley in 1695/6 in ignorance of his death over six
years previously by his brother, John Bradley of London; for
Dr. Thomas Bradley had no son John. This letter, which was
placed on public record in Fairfield, obviously by the children
of Francis in the hope that they might be legatees of their uncle
John, is addressed, ‘‘These for his very loving Brother, Francis
Bradley of Fairfield in New England,’’ and begins: ‘‘Dear
Brother: It is now 10 years since I received a letter from vou,’’
and explains, ‘‘I send it on adventure according to your last
directions, to Mr. Willson in New York.’’
It is quite in vain to argue, as does a Miss Bradley in a letter
quoted by Mr. Dryer, that the brother of John Bradley of
London was a different Francis Bradley (no other Francis is
known in New England). Francis had lived in Fairfield
around a quarter of a century; he had written to his brother, as
the latter states, ten vears previously while living in Fairfield,
and had told his brother how to reach him bv letter. It must
be remembered that there was no regular mail service to or in
the colonies. The letter was actually addressed to Francis Brad-
188 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
ley of Fairfield in New England, and was sent, as directed, in
the care of Mr. Willson of New York. This man was undoubt-
edly Samuel Wilson of New York (who also had died before
the letter was dispatched), uncle of Samuel Wilson who was
then living in Fairfield (see ‘‘ Families of Old Fairfield,’’ 1-696).
These are the plain facts, and nothing could be clearer. In jus-
tice to the author, he presents in full both claims, and inei-
dentally mentions the present reviewer as believing in the
Coventry theory of origin. The reviewer has never upheld the
Coventry theory as more than a possibility, for it still remains
to be proved; but the Ackworth theory is clearly impossible.
—D. L. J.
‘SOURCE MATERIAL FOR A FINCH GENEALOGY
By DonaLp Lines Jacosus, M.A., of New Haven, Conn.
[Continued from Vol. 19, p. 125]
XLIII. Westchester County (N. Y.) Wills
Will of Nathan Finch of Bedford, 9 Oct. 1790, proved 27 Apr.
1807; wife Polly; children (under age), Polly, Charlotte and
Nathan; Executors, Isaac Smith of Bedford and wife Polly.
Adm’n granted to Polly Wibber, formerly Finch, widow of
dee’d. [N. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, 57-324. |
XLIV. Dutchess County (N. Y.) Wills
Will of Caleb Mosher of Charlotte Precinct, 8 Feb. 1786,
proved 5 Sept. 1793, mentioned daughter Abigail Fintch. [N. Y.
Gen. and Biog. Record, 61-258. |
XLV. Greenwich (Conn.) Land Records
Commonplace Book, vol. 1, p. 8. John Austen, Thomas Aus-
ten, and Joseph Finch and Elisabeth his wife, all of Greenwich,
acknowledge receipt from our father-in-law Weliam JIubbert
their full portions from estate of our deceased father John
Austen. 8 July 1684.
Vol. 1, p. 214. Deed of John Mead, Sr., of Greenwich, 16 Mar.
1696, proves that his son John was then deceased, leaving a
widow Ruth* and sons John, Jonathan and Nathan, and daughter
Elizabeth.
Vol. 1, p. 344. Sam" Finch of Greenwich conveys to brother
Jonathan Finch. 23 Mar. 1706.
Vol. 1, p. 357. Joseph Finch Seni® Jnhabitant of Greenwich
conveys for Love to sonn Sam", 2 Apr. 1705.
* By Weaver's ‘“Mead Genealogy,’’ she was born Ruth Hardy.
SOURCE MATERIAL FOR A FINCH GENEALOGY 189
Vol. 2, p. 57. Joseph Finch Sen Jnhabitant of Greenwich
conveys for good will and fatherly affections to my Naturall
Son Jonathan Finch of Greenwich. 31 Jan. 1711/12.
Vol. 2, p. 163. Sam" Finch and wife Mary of Greenwich
convey to Joseph Marshall and Daniel Marshall of Greenwich,
our right to estate of Sam" Marshall Late of Greenwich Deceased.
13 Apr. 1714.
Vol. 2, p. 185. Joseph Finch, Jonathan Finch, Benjamen
Finch, Joseph Renals, Jonathan Mead, and Jonathan Newman
of Stanford, all y® rest of Greenwich, for £50, convey to our
brother Sam" Finch of Greenwich, half of homestead which was
our honoured fathers Joseph Finches of Greenwich Deceased.
12 Mar. 1714/15.
Vol. 2, p. 292. Ruth Finch wife to Joseph Finch, Sr., had
lands by a town grant in 1697 (when she was a widow), conveys
20 Mar. 1712/13 to her two sons, Jonathan and Nathan Mead,
both of Greenwich, by consent of husband, Joseph Finch, Sr.
Vol. 2, p. 291. John Finch, Sr., of Citty of New York, con-
veyed to Henry James of Stamford, Conn., a house and lot in
Greenwich, 6 Sept. 1720.
Vol. 3, p. 44. Isack ffinch of Greenwich conveys to Gershom
Lockwood. 14 Nov. 1721.
Vol. 3, p. 278. Beniamen finch senaar [Sr.| of Greenwich
discharges brothers Joseph and Jonathan Finch of Greenwich,
for interest in Estate of our honoured father, Joseph finch,
27 Dee. 1723.
Vol. 3, p. 240. Beniamen finch of Greenwich, husbandman,
(signed Junear), conveyed to Sam" hurly, 28 Sept. 1726.
Vol. 3, p. 453. Beniamen finch sen’ of Greenwich sold 23 Sept.
1729.
Vol. 3, p. 361. Joseph Finch Ju of Greenwich agrees with
my brother-in-law Joseph Clos Exequitar to Estate of his hon-
ared father Leat Deseased .... for £20 besides what I have
allredy Resaued from Estate of Thomas Close .. . . discharges
(the Executor). 3 Dee. 1709.
Vol. 3, p. 419. Beniamen finch Junr of Greenwich sold to
Justus Bush, 1 Jan. 1728.
Vol. 3, p. 557. Elisabeth Finch of Greenwich leases to son
Nathanill Finch during her natural life. 11 Mar. 1729/30.
Vol. 4, p. 58. Abraham Benidick, Thomas Hoit and Ebnezar
Picket with our wiffs Rebeca mary Elisabeth of Danbery, and
Nathanill Finch Nathanill Lockwood with our wiues hanah and
Ruth, and Prudine Knapp of Greenwich . . . . all Legatees in
will of Honoured father Timothy Knapp of Greenwich Deseased
.... convey to Jzarell Knapp. 27 Feb. 1733.
Vol. 4, p. 83. Merey Finch Widow to Leftenant Samull
Finch desesed of Greenwich conveys to Isaac Holms of Green-
190 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
wich .... land on Right of hur desesed father Jonathan Whelply.
Apr. 1734.
Vol. 4, p. 89. Nathaniel Finch of Greenwich conveys to
Joseph Knap of Greenwich, land set unto my wife by Joseph
Knap Leat of s* Greenwich Desesed. (hannah finch also signed.)
28 Feb. 1733/4.
Vol. 4, p. 274. Ebenezer Finch of Greenwich conveys to
Nathaniell Finch of Greenwich, right in mother’s thirds set
out to her from ye esteat of my honoured father Joseph Finch
Decst Leat of Greenwich. 18 Feb. 1735/6.
Vol. 4, p. 486. Jonathan finch and wife Abigall dafter to
water Buttler Dec’ of Greenwich, sold land inherited from her
father, 31 Mar. 1738.
Vol. 5, p. 109. Abigell Finch of Greenwich conveys to my
brother Nathaniell Finch of Greenwich, all right in land... .
nere y® Dweling hous of Joseph finch . .. . that did belong to
estate of my honoured father Joseph finch Dec’. 1 Feb. 1742.
Vol. 6, p. 406. Nathaniell finch of Greenwich (joined by wife
Hannah) sold to Justus Bush, 12 Dec. 1745.
Vol. 6, p. 413. Jabez finch leat of y® town of Greenwich con-
veys to Nathaniell finch of y® same place, all right in humsted y‘
was my honoured fathers Decest .... and in lands set to my
honoured mother.
Vol. 7, p. 7. Jonathan Lockwood Jr. of Greenwich and wife
Marcy convey to brother Sam" Finch of Greenwich, right from
estate of M™ Samuell Finch and his widow Mrs. Mary Finch of
Greenwich. 7 Mar. 1749.
Vol. 7, p. 7. Samuell Finch of Greenwich conveys to brother
Jeremiah Finch of Greenwich, right from estate of father
Samuell Finch. 24 Mar. 1749.
Vol. 7, p. 8. Jonathan Garnsey and wife Deborah of Stan-
ford, Conn., convey to Samuell Finch of Greenwich, right from
estate of father Samuell Finch. 29 Apr. 1746.
Vol. 7, p. 427. Jeremiah Finch of Greenwich with wife Abi-
gail, daughter of Abraham Rundal of Greenwich Dec*... . sell.
16 Mar. 1754.
Vol. 9, p. 175. John Finch of Stamford sold to Messenger
Palmer of Greenwich, 30 Aug. 1763.
Vol. 10, p. 61. John Finch of Stamford conveyed to Ebenezer
Peck of Greenwich, 20 acres in Greenwich, 21 June 1770. Wit-
nesses, Abigail Bostwick, Abigail Bostwick Jun’.
Vol. 11, p. 22. Nathan Finch of Greenwich conveyed to sons
Jonathan and Nathan, Jr., 10 Feb. 1778.
Vol. 11, p. 41. Thaddeus Lockwood and wife Sarah, Jonathan
Finch Jr. and wife Deborah, Peter Moe and wife Theodosia,
all of Greenwich, Sam" Smith and wife Betty, of Stanford,
Conn., convey to Jeremiah Mead of Greenwich, land in Stanwich.
30 Oct. 1780.
SOURCE MATERIAL FOR A FINCH GENEALOGY 191
Vol. 11, p. 309. Jonah Todd of New Milford, Conn., Abraham
Todd and Oliver Todd of Manor of Cortlandt, Westchester
County, N. Y., Mary Waring of Bedford, Westchester County,
N. Y., and Lewis Holly, Hannah Rundall, Caleb Finch and wife
Mabel, all of Greenwich, children of Rev. Mr. Abraham Todd
of Greenwich dee’d, convey to Nehemiah Mead Jr. of Greenwich.
30 Apr. 1778.
Vol. 12, p. 284. Ezekiel Finch of Greenwich to son Ezekiel
Finch of Stamford. 3 May 1788.
Vol. 12, p. 285. Ezekiel Finch of Greenwich to son Jonathan
Finch of Greenwich. 3 May 1788.
Vol. 13, p. 1. Ezekiel Finch sells to Isaae Finch. [3] May
1788.
Vol. 13, p. 506. Isaae Finch of Greenwich leases to father
Ezekiel Finch of Greenwich land in Society of Stanwich, for life
of Ezekiel and his wife Esther. 3 May 1788.
Vol. 13, p. 507. Ezekiel Finch of Stamford to father Ezekiel
Finch of Greenwich; if mother Esther Finch should be left a
widow, she to have thirds. 3 May 1788.
[Numerous other deeds, not examined. |
XLVI. Finch Soldiers in French and Indian War, New York
Regiments
David, 4 Apr. 1760, aged 18, cordwinder, b. ‘‘Labour’’ [sic].
Jacob, 20 Apr. 1759, aged 24, carpenter, b. Conn.
James, 15 Mar. 1759, aged 18, labourer, b. Goshen; 31 Mar.
1760, aged 19, labourer, b. Orange County.
Jeremiah, 11 Apr. 1758, aged 30, joyner, b. Greenwich.
Jesse, 3 Apr. 1759, aged 18, weaver, b. Conn.
John, 20 Apr. 1762, aged 17, labourer, b. New England.
Nathaniel, 10 Apr. 1759, aged 18, labourer, b. Dutchess
County ; 1 May 1761, aged 21, labourer, b. Oblong.
Samuel, 1 May 1760, aged 35, labour, b. Conn.
Solomon, 23 Nov. 1763, aged 24, farmer, b. Orange County.
William, 30 Apr. 1761, aged 18, labourer, b. Westchester
County.
Also, Symon, in Col. Richard Ingoldesby’s Co., 1713.
[Published in Colonial Series, N. Y. State; also in N. Y.
Historical Society Collections. ]
XLVII. Southbury (Conn.) Congregational Church Records
Jeremiah Finch and Hannah Strickland, m. 30 June 1773.
XLVIII. Dutchess County (N. Y.) Tax Lists, (partial)
Jacob Finch. Beekman’s, Feb. 1743/4.
Finch. Crum Elbow, June 1746.
192 THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST
Jacob Finch. Southern, Feb. 1746/7, June 1747, Feb. 1747/8,
June 1748.
Jabish Finch. Crum Elbow, Feb. 1746/7, June 1747, Feb.
1747/8, June 1753.
[Lists from Feb. 1748/9 to June 1752 missing. |
Benjamin Finch, Crum Elbow, Feb. 1753, June 1753.
Abram Finch, Crum Elbow, Feb. 1753, June 1753.
Solomon Finch, Crum Elbow, Feb. 1753, June 1753. ‘
Jacob Finch, Southern, Feb. 1753, June 1753.
Jabez Finch, Crum Elbow, Feb. 1759.
Ben Finch, Crum Elbow, Feb. 1759.
Abram Finch, Crum Elbow, Feb. 1759.
Solomon Finch, Crum Elbow, Feb. 1759.
Isaac Finch’s Wid”, Southern, June 1760.
Jacob Finch Jun’, Southern, Feb. 1761.
Jabish Finch, Charlotte, June 1769, 1774.
Solomon Finch, Charlotte, June 1769, 1774.
Benjamin Finch, Amenia, June 1769.
Jeremiah & Jess Finch, Amenia, June 1769.
Isaae Finch, Charlotte, 1774.
Abraham Finch, Amenia, 1774.
Ebenezer Finch, Beekman’s, 1774.
Caleb Finch, North East, 1779.
[Courtesy of W. Herbert Wood, Elbridge, N. Y.]
XLIX. Finch Heads of Families, Connecticut Census, 1790
(The first figure is males over 16 including head of household;
the second figure is males under 16; the third figure is females. )
Danbury, Fairfield County
Jacob, 2-1-3
Nathaniel, 1-1-4
Peluk, 1-2-2
Greenwich, Fairfield County
Ezekiel, 1-0-1
Isaac, 1-1-1
Jonathan, 2-3-7
Jonathan Jr., 4-1-1
Nathaniel, 3-3-2
Timothy, 3-3-3
Timothy Jr., 1-0-4
William, 1-3-2
William N., 1-1-3
[To be continued]
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